Freshman forward Aaron Henry (11) dribbles the ball during the game against Florida Gulf Coast University at Breslin Center on Nov. 11, 2018. The Spartans defeated the Eagles, 106-82.
The last time the No. 10 Michigan State men’s basketball team (1-1) met up with Florida Gulf Coast (1-2) was in November 2016, and the game ended on a controversial game clock error with the Spartans edging the Eagles 78-77. The Spartans didn't let it get that close this time around, however, as they cruised past Florida Gulf Coast to claim their regular season home-opener.
"We showed really good moments," guard Cassius Winston said after the game. "We're getting closer and closer and we're getting better and better. Like I said, we did score a lot of points, we did get a lot of guys involved, we did make some really good plays. If you can take some positives out of it, those are some things you can take."
The Eagles drew first blood in the game thanks to a layup from forward Troy Baxter to get Florida Gulf Coast off to a 10-6 run through the first two and a half minutes of the game. However, the Spartans rallied right back, sinking four straight shots, including two from beyond the arc from guards Cassius Winston and Joshua Langford to give them a 16-10 lead after the first five minutes.
The Spartans then broke off a 17-7 run over the next five minutes, with seven of those points coming from Langford to push their lead to 16 halfway through the first half.
Through the remainder of the half, MSU's lead was stretched even further, as eight points from forward Nick Ward helped bring the score to 59-35 heading into halftime. Langford led the Spartan offense in the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds. Ward paced right behind with 13 points and seven rebounds of his own.
The second half started off with the two teams matching each other bucket-for-bucket, as both teams scored 10 points through just over four minutes into the second half. However, the Eagles rattled off eight straight points to cut into their deficit, making the score to 69-53 in favor of MSU.
The Eagles continued to chip away at the difference over the next four minutes, outscoring the Spartans 11-5 as they still trailed by 16 points with nine minutes remaining on the clock. However, the Spartans kept their distance in the final minutes of regulation, as they finished off Florida Gulf Coast 106-82 to claim their first victory of the season, and reaching triple digits for the first time since December 2017 against Savannah State.
After struggling against No. 1 Kansas last Tuesday in the Champions Classic, Ward finished the night with career-highs in points (25) and assists (four) to go along with 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Langford also had a strong showing, notching a double-double of his own with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Though the the Spartans had an impressive offensive showing, coach Tom Izzo was quite displeased with his team's performance on defense.
"As far as my team goes, we're having trouble guarding anybody," Izzo said. "Okay, we gave up 92 and 82 and we've got some guys on this team that think we can outscore people, and we can when the teams aren't good enough. But as the teams get better, we will not outscore people, evident the other night."
Winston, who finished the night with 14 points and eight assists, also felt his team has some work to do on the defensive end of things.
"I think we got so caught up in our offense that we just kind of, you know, let the defense go," Winston said. "I think we were scoring so many points and scoring at a high rate, that you're just kind of like 'you know, we're just going to score another basket,' and thats just not the mentality that we want to have."
The Spartans will have a chance to improve upon in their defensive efforts as they return to action Wednesday night against Louisiana Monroe (2-0). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST at the Breslin Center.
