“I thought our communication was terrible,” Izzo said. “That’s why they had some wide open (3-pointers). We switch a lot, some of it could add to it because of the lineups, but communication is communication.”

Different lineups were aplenty throughout MSU’s final exhibition game.

The Spartans started a smaller lineup with sophomore guards Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers and Chris Allen, as well as junior forward Raymar Morgan and senior forward Marquise Gray to open the game. To begin the second half, senior center Goran Suton, freshman forward Delvon Roe and senior guard Travis Walton replaced Allen, Summers and Gray.

As to which lineup — big or small — Izzo will deploy once the regular season begins against Idaho at 6 p.m. Sunday at Breslin Center, even he admits he’s not sure.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do yet, to be honest with you,” Izzo said. “Do we go bigger, or do we go a little smaller? I think we have the flexibility to do both and with (Roe) still a four to five minute guy, we may go a little smaller to start with, but you’ll see both lineups in games.”

Moving beyond the arc

Morgan has been a scorer for MSU since the minute he stepped on campus, scoring 11.7 points a game to finish second on the team in scoring during his freshman year.

Last season, Morgan took another step forward as he led the Spartans with 14 points a game. Most of his points the past two years have come from in the paint and around the basket, but over the summer he continued to work on his outside shooting.

Through two exhibition games Morgan said he’s feeling more confident from beyond the arc, something that showed with his 23-point performance and 3-for-3 three point shooting against the Lakers.

“It’s starting to come, so hopefully,” Morgan said of whether he’ll keep shooting from long-range. “Hopefully my range will get even deeper.”

Tempo setters

Walton and Lucas already proved last year that they’re more than capable of handling the point guard duties.

Although Lucas sat out much of Monday’s game due to a minor ankle sprain — still dishing out five assists in 12 minutes — freshman guard Korie Lucious continued his emergence as yet another capable point guard for the Spartans.

The 5-foot-11 guard had nine assists in 17 minutes, giving MSU three legitimate points guards who can all push the ball upcourt, create, find open teammates and finish in the lane.

“It’s going to be a big strength, especially with the way we’re playing — pressing and trying to (play a lot of guys),” Walton said of the trio. “We can all defend pretty good, play good on the ball defense, stay out of foul trouble and there’s not going to be any slack when (a different guard comes) in so I know it’s going to be good for us.”