It wasn’t pretty, but the MSU men’s basketball team closed out its exhibition season by knocking off St. Cloud State 62-49 in a lackluster game Friday night at Breslin Center.
Struggles at the free throw line and with taking care of the ball prevented the Spartans from pulling away, along with seven 3-pointers from St. Cloud State.
MSU shot 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from the charity stripe, turned the ball over 20 times and only managed to out-rebound a much smaller Huskies team by four while allowing 10 offensive rebounds.
Senior center Derrick Nix led four Spartan scorers in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds, while junior guard Keith Appling added 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Junior forward Adreian Payne contributed a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman guard Gary Harris scored in double figures for the second consecutive exhibition game, totaling 11 points.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo’s nephew, sophomore guard Kevin Levandoski, plays for St. Cloud State, scoring three points and dishing out one assist.
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