For the second straight game, Lucas had a substantial point contribution, finishing with 17 points, a career-high nine assists and an astounding zero turnovers. He shot 4-5 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half.

Neitzel, who has adopted somewhat of a “pass first, shoot second” mentality this season, had 16 points and four assists. Junior guard Travis Walton tacked on an additional eleven assists without a single turnover, tying his career high.

The Spartans totaled nearly as many first-half assists (18) as rebounds (20). They finished the game with a 31-10 assists-to-turnover margin.

“When you look at Kalin and Walton, Trav just brought it today,” MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo said. “You could see from the get-go and that’s the way we’ve got to get other guys playing. I’m not sure I’ve been with a team that’s had 31 assists and 37 baskets. That’s fun because there’s unselfishness and no one’s hogging the ball. That’s a coach’s dream.”

Even with the stellar play from MSU’s point guards, sophomore forward Raymar Morgan led all scorers with 24 points in the highest MSU scoring output since the Spartans’ 98-69 win over UW-GB in 2005.

After sealing off the basket from any Phoenix penetration for the first few minutes, MSU allowed some easy baskets to UW-GB guards Randy Berry, Ryan Tillema and Mike Schachtner in the first half. Schachtner led the Phoenix with 20 points.

Lucas and fellow freshman guard Durrell Summers again proved their ability to provide more than garbage minutes off the MSU bench, accounting for 14 straight Spartans points early in the first half. The Spartans had difficulty extending their lead in the first half, as they weren’t able to put together much of a sustained scoring drive until a few minutes before halftime.

Sparked by a fast break basket from Walton and back-to-back 3-pointers from Lucas, the Spartans went on a 12-2 tear to increase the lead to 50-33.

“We turned the ball over two times consecutively and they got lay-ups because of it,” UW-GB coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “Their run was keyed by transition. You can coach it, preach it, teach it and drill it, but until you see that athleticism up close – it caught us early in the game and put us on our heels.”

Neitzel did come out looking to shoot in the second half, making two of the Spartans’ first four baskets, including a 3-pointer at 16:53.

Junior forward Marquise Gray followed that jumper with one of his signature highlight reel slam-dunks, giving the Spartans a 20-point lead. Then again, at 14:22 in the second half, Gray grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed it home in mid-air.

When the Phoenix cut the MSU lead to 14 and looked as though they might creep back into the game, MSU broke the UW-GB press and Morgan found junior center Goran Suton for a reverse lay-up at 8:16. By the end of the contest, 10 Spartans scored and five (Morgan, Neitzel, Suton, Lucas and Summers) had double-digit scoring outputs.

“I was disappointed because I know you’re not going to win like that in the Big Ten and I know you’re not going to win like that on the road in the Big Ten for sure,” Izzo said. “We had a lot of guys who did not check anybody. In league time you better be able to guard somebody and we’ll find if we can do that. I’m very excited to see what we can grow to be.”

MSU opens Big Ten play against Minnesota at 8 p.m., Jan. 5 at Breslin Center.