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Things fared better for Michigan State on the hardwood compared to the gridiron on Saturday.
The Spartans’ men’s basketball team picked up a convincing victory over Eastern Michigan, 83-59, on Saturday from the Breslin Center. The Spartans trailed early in the game, but took over halfway through the opening frame and never looked back.
With the win, Michigan State improves to 3-1 on the season. The Spartans have now picked up three straight victories after their season-opening loss to Kansas in the Champions Classic.
Michigan State fell behind early in the game, with the Eagles holding a four-point lead eight minutes in. However, things turned in the Spartans’ favor from that point on, with Michigan State outscoring the Eagles 38-16 from that point. Michigan State would hold a 49-31 lead at the break.
Michigan State got off to a better start in the second half and was able to build up a 27-point lead with about 12 minutes to go in the game. The Eagles would fight back and close the gap, but the Spartans’ lead never got within single digits in the second half.
The Spartans were led offensively by Marcus Bingham Jr. who dropped a career-high 19 points. Joining Bingham in double-digits for scoring was Malik Hall (15 points), Max Christie (13 points) and Gabe Brown (10 points).
Michigan State ended the night shooting 44.1 percent from the field, but only hit four of 17 three-point attempts (23.5 percent). The Spartans only committed 10 turnovers, which was a noticeable improvement for a team averaging 16.3 turnovers per game entering this matchup.
Michigan State returns to the floor on Wednesday (Nov. 24) against Loyola Chicago in their first of three games in three days at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on ESPN.
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