However, the game wasn’t as smooth sailing for much of the way.

Just three days after MSU nearly had fans in heart attack mode against Columbia, the Spartans kicked off their game against Portland on the same foot.

By shooting 18 3-pointers and only making seven, the Spartans were settling for shots early on and going away from the post, causing the heavily-favored home team to walk into halftime with only a 36-32 lead.

In the first half, Harris got things rolling for MSU, hitting a three for the team’s first points of the game, followed by a layup through traffic four possessions later.

But Harris ended up being the warm-up act for Appling, who shot 4-for-4 behind the arc to head into halftime with 16 points.

MSU broke out of half looking as if they were going to pull away, going up by eight less than two minutes in.

However, later in the half the Spartans went to their first half ways of settling for outside shots, and Portland tied the game at 46 with 12:42 left in the game.

After missing his first four 3-point shots of the game, junior guard Travis Trice nailed one from the baseline and had a fast-break layup to give the Spartans a five-point lead less than a minute after the Pilots tied the game.

Appling knocked down his fifth three of the game, and Harris hit two of his own in back-to-back possessions to give MSU a 60-50 lead.

Sophomore forward Costello, who didn’t start after a less-than-impressive performance Friday, created noise in Breslin Center after he threw down a dunk with Portland defenders closing in on him. Costello ended the night with four points and five rebounds.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Trice buried his second three of the game and put the Spartans up, 69-54.

That all but put the game away, as Portland never got within 13 the remainder of the contest.

The Spartans will next travel to New York to play Virginia Tech in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Friday at 9:30 p.m.