“We were a little sloppy the first half, but we made some adjustments at halftime about what we were going to do with them,” head coach Tom Izzo said. “We did a better job the second half and started moving the ball a little better.”

Mount St. Mary’s kept the game close for much of the first half, and MSU didn’t lead by double digits until the end of the half.

Will Miller went 5-10 from 3-point range, and totaled 15 points to lead the Mountaineer charge. He didn’t score in the second half.

Both teams lived from behind the arch, as nearly half of the combined 68 shots from from long range.

MSU came out in the second half and scored the first ten points of the period to push their lead to 22.

Sophomore forward Denzel Valentine slammed a dunk with just over ten minutes remaining that would be the dagger, and the walk-ons would check in soon after.

Many opposing coaches that have played, and lost to the Spartans this year said that this was one of the best, and most cohesive teams they’ve ever seen, and Mount Saint Mary’s head coach Jamion Christian was no different.

“Michigan State, obviously the No. 1 team in the country definitely played like it today,” Christian said. “Watching them from afar for a lot of years, you can see why they’re so talented and so good every year.”

One thing that was out the ordinary was the absence of Appling, Harris, junior forward Branden Dawson and senior forward Adreian Payne from the starting lineup.

Izzo said Harris will return for the next game, and the other regulars were out after missing class. It’s the first time Appling had missed a start since his freshman year.

“It’s something that I’ve just grown accustomed to,” Appling said. “It was a wake up call, a lesson learned. I was glad that we could come out and play the way that we did in the second half and come out with a win.”

Izzo said Dawson, who played 20 minutes with six points and 10 rebounds, can take this team to the next level and called him the biggest swing player on the team.

Dawson said he knows there are things he can do better, but having the trust in his coach and teammates is just more motivation.

“Coach has told me plenty of times that I’m the backbone of this team, and when I get going, the team gets going,” Dawson said. “For me, it’s a lot of responsibility, but coming in and watching film has really helped me out a lot.”

The Spartans return to action Wednesday at 9 p.m. when they host No. 16 North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

“I’m excited about what we’ve got coming up,” Izzo said. “It’s a privilege and an honor to play two of the winningest programs in the NCAA in Kentucky and Carolina in a seven or eight game stretch. I feel like we accomplished some things, but we’ve got a lot of work to do yet.”