Box Score

East Lansing, Mich. - No. 19 Michigan State scored 17 of the first 19 points of the game, taking advantage of cold Loyola shooting, en route to an 87-52 win over the Ramblers tonight at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. The Ramblers drop to 2-1 on the year while the Spartans improve to 2-1 with the win.

"We let our offense dictate our defense tonight," said head coach Porter Moser. "We got a bunch of nice looks early in the game, they did not fall and that affected our entire defensive plan. But give Michigan State a lot of credit. They came off a high-energy loss to Duke the other night and were fantastic. They trust each other, they shoot it from the outside so well and that opens things up inside for them. I thought they were clicking on every cylinder that you can click on."

Loyola won the opening tip and had two terrific looks on the opening possession but came away empty, It proved to be a theme for the first half. A Milton Doyle elbow jumper got Loyola on the board but the Ramblers missed their next seven shots from the field, going 7:22 without a point as Michigan State opened up a 17-2 lead. Montel James broke the drought with a baseline jumper and Doyle answered with a three-pointer to get LU back within 10 but Brandon Dawson scored the first four points in a 10-0 run that make it a 29-7 game with just over six minutes left in the half and the Spartans took a 38-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. Loyola shot 24% (6 of 25) in the half while Michigan State, playing in their home gym for the first time this season, acclimated quickly, shooting 61% in the period.

The Spartans were even more efficient in the second half, shooting 65% after halftime, but Loyola was more efficient as well, connecting at a 42% clip after halftime, including five from downtown.

"In a game like this, in an evironment like this, you need your veteran guys to calm you down and I thought it was our younger group that did that tonight," continued Moser. "I thought Ben (Richardson), in particular, played a terrific game on both ends and Jay (Knuth) and Donte (Ingram) attacked the basket much better, especially in the second half."

Loyola finished the game shooting at a 35% clip, 20 percentage points lower than its team percentage entering the game. Michigan State finished at 63% overall with assists on 27 of its 36 baskets.

Doyle finished with a team-high 13 points to lead the Ramblers, while Ingram (eight points, five rebounds) and Richardson (seven points, two steals) played well off the bench. Dawson and Marvin Clark, Jr. led five Spartans in double figures with 15 points apiece.

Loyola returns to action next Tuesday night when it heads south to battle UT-San Antonio. Tip-off from the Alamo City is scheduled for 7 p.m.