Green later displayed his leadership, yelling at freshman center Derrick Nix to get in position while lining up for a free throw.

All told, Green finished MSU’s preseason opener with a full box score — 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals — and an impressed head coach.

“Draymond Green had a phenomenal second half after a very poor start, and he started checking better, running better and scoring better,” head coach Tom Izzo said. “He got to the line a lot and was a man on the boards.”

Green played 26 minutes, the second most on the team behind junior guard Kalin Lucas. Although a lot of those minutes came with fellow sophomore forward Delvon Roe on the bench with a head injury, Izzo said early last week that between Green, junior guard Chris Allen and the regular starters, MSU has six or seven players who could start.

As last season progressed, Green saw more time on the floor in crucial situations at the end of games. He said last week he didn’t have a preference between starting or coming off the bench, saying he simply wanted to contribute in crunch time. No matter what his role ends up being, Izzo knows he can get a variety of different things from Green.

“He’s probably as versatile as anybody, along with (senior forward Raymar Morgan),” Izzo said. “We challenged him a little bit at halftime and I thought he responded.”

Lucas keeps firing

Lucas put up 21 shots Sunday, a large number that didn’t entirely bother Izzo.

“Even though Kalin Lucas was 5-for-21, I was happy how we ran our team in the timeouts,” Izzo said. “I thought he should have pulled up a little bit more, instead of taking it to the hole every single time, but I was pleased with his defense and the things we did.”

The 21 shot attempts were the most of Lucas’ career and although he acknowledged 21 shots were a lot, he wouldn’t rule out putting up that many again.

“It depends on how the defense is playing me,” Lucas said. “If a team keeps giving me clear lanes to the basket or open shots, of course I’m going to take them.”

Cautious with Korie

With Allen out with a groin injury, more backcourt minutes were available for sophomore guard Korie Lucious — something that worried Izzo.

Izzo said since breaking his foot in last year’s NCAA Championship, Lucious only has practiced five or six times since being cleared in mid-October. Sunday, Lucious played 19 minutes.

“I am worried about Korie a little bit,” Izzo said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the foot, as far as the break, but … he just hasn’t done anything in six and a half months, and now all of a sudden he’s thrown into the fire.”