The No. 2 MSU men’s basketball team split a pair of weekend games at the Legends Classic in Atlantic City, N.J., bouncing back with a convincing win Saturday against Massachusetts after being upset by Florida on Friday.
Saturday’s 106-68 win against Massachusetts marked head coach Tom Izzo’s 341st victory of his career, making him the all-time winningest coach in MSU basketball history.
Against the Minutemen, MSU (5-1) shot 58.6 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Junior guard Chris Allen (18 points), senior forward Raymar Morgan (17) and junior guard Kalin Lucas (16) led five Spartans in double figures.
Friday, the Spartans lost their first game of the season when Florida’s Erving Walker hit a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc with 1:56 remaining to give Florida a one-point lead, and the Gators held on to upset the Spartans 77-74 in the semifinals of the tournament.
MSU had numerous chances to regain the lead after Walker’s 3-pointer but couldn’t capitalize. Lucas pulled MSU within one, 75-74, with 23 seconds to go, but Florida’s Dan Werner made two free throws to give MSU the ball down three with 17 seconds to go.
Junior guard Durrell Summers had two open looks from 3-point land in the final eight seconds, but couldn’t get either to fall.
Against the Gators, Lucas led all scorers with 20 points, becoming the 40th player in MSU history to score 1,000 career points with a 3-pointer in the first half.
Junior forward Draymond Green had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Summers and sophomore forward Delvon Roe each had 13.
The Spartans will face No. 12 North Carolina on Tuesday.
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