The six-foot-one guard from Detroit did everything for MSU (2-0 overall) against Kentucky (2-1). He scored a team-high 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds, recorded eight assists and had four steals.

Last season, head coach Tom Izzo came close to moving Appling away from the point guard position, but decided to stick with him. And after Tuesday night’s game, Izzo might have made the right decision.

“Just listening to (Izzo), and believing what he was telling me,” Appling said on becoming a better point guard. “Just watching film, watching other great point guards — Tony Parker and Chris Paul. I feel like that really helped me out a lot, so that’s where the area of improvement came in.”

Despite a rough outing against McNeese State, Appling bounced back to produce several big and deciding plays for MSU in a game nationally televised on ESPN.

Thanks in part to Appling’s steal and breakaway dunk, MSU jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, which forced Kentucky to call two early timeouts.

Appling, sophomore guard Gary Harris and the rest of the Spartans came out running in transition and caused Kentucky to turn the ball over nine times in the first half. It’s unsurprising for Izzo, who has called Appling and Harris the two best defensive guards in the nation.

“He went from just trying to be a scoring point guard, or maybe looking for a shot first, and now sometimes, he’s almost looking for it second,” Izzo said in the team’s media day last month.

Kentucky freshman Julius Randle put on the show in the second half, scoring 23 of his 27 points after halftime. He also grabbed 13 rebounds in the game.

Kentucky came out of halftime with a lot more energy, and as the game wore on, the Wildcats were able to make it to the free-throw line 36 times, but only could make 20.

Momentum was on Kentucky’s side as they tied it at 66 points apiece, thanks to Randle’s free throws.

With just less than five minutes left in the game, sophomore guard Denzel Valentine drove and kicked it out to Appling in the corner, who knocked it down for three.

Just seconds later, Harris killed any Kentucky momentum after he stole a pass right after the inbound and easily laid it in to give MSU a five-point cushion, and the eventual victory.

Appling was glad for the victory, but said there’s not too much to accomplish because it’s still so early in the season. Appling said the team wants to be No. 1 at the end of the season, not the beginning.

“Obviously coming into tonight, we knew it was a very big game, so that’s just the way we approached it,” Appling said. “It’s a great win, but at the same time, we didn’t accomplish anything tonight.”