Senior guard Bryn Forbes, 5, and the rest of the MSU Spartans get excited during the game against Northern Michigan on Nov. 4, 2015 at Breslin Center. The Spartans defeated the Wildcats, 94-53.
Head coach Tom Izzo and the No. 13 Spartans were able to overcome a slow first half and defeat Northern Michigan Wednesday night, 94-53.
MSU was led offensively by senior guards Bryn Forbes and Denzel Valentine. Forbes led the team with 23 points and one assist during 18 minutes of play while Valentine looked well-rounded with 14 points, 10 assists and 10 total rebounds (two offensive and eight defensive) and played a total of 29 minutes.
But it was truly a tale of two halves for the Spartans, even if the final score did not reflect it. The Spartans struggled mightily in the first half making only 43.8 percent of their field goals and only 23.1 percent of their 3-point shots. Turnovers plagued the Spartans for much of the first half — eight out of their 11 turnovers came in the first half. MSU was only leading Northern Michigan by five points going into halftime.
“I was very disappointed with the team (at) the half. ... We looked a little like the Bad News Bears,” Izzo said. “But I give them (Northern Michigan) some credit, they made some great plays, a couple of guys made some good shots and all of a sudden they hit three out of four threes and we regrouped at halftime.”
Luckily for the Spartans, they picked up the pace and the floodgates opened. The Spartans began to pile on the scoring and went on a 22-4 run about halfway through the second half. MSU received offensive contributions from everybody, except for Connor George, who played for two minutes. The Spartans’ second half offense was so potent that their 56 point total for the half was more than Northern Michigan’s total for the entire game.
“At first some people were just kind of hesitant or weren’t thinking clearly or came over too fast, but as time went on we got comfortable and our chemistry started clicking,” Forbes said. “I think we had a lot of guys making great plays, I think Zel (Denzel Valentine) was passing the ball real well, he was finding me in spots. Tum Tum started off well. I think we started off well and then in the second half we really hit our stride.”
Contributions from nearly everybody on the Spartan roster is what really made a difference in this game, especially freshman forward Deyonta “DD” Davis. The 6 foot-10 inch freshman finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and four monstrous blocks.
Izzo was also impressed by how well Davis played, especially for his first game.
“I thought he was solid, I thought he was as consistent as most of the guys we had,” Izzo said. “He was blocking shots, he played with a little emotion, excitement, I don’t know where that came from, I thought he played pretty well and I was pleased with his performance.”
The Spartans will take a few days rest before they host the Ferris State Bulldogs on Monday with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
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