Jeremy Fears Jr. had 18 points and 11 assists to lead No. 17 Michigan State to an 84-56 home victory over in-state foe Detroit Mercy on Friday.
Coen Carr had 13 points and seven rebounds, Jaxon Kohler scored 13 points and Carson Cooper added 12 points to flank Fears for Michigan State.
The Spartans have won five straight to start the season and avoided a disappointment after a big win over Kentucky in New York on Tuesday.
Michigan State shot 45.9% from the field overall (28 of 61) and held a 42-31 rebounding advantage. The Spartans committed 12 turnovers.
Orlando Lovejoy scored 14 points to lead Detroit Mercy (1-5), which has lost three straight.
The Titans shot 36.7 percent from the field (22 of 60) and recorded 15 turnovers.
Michigan State held a 47-31 lead early in the second half and went on an 8-0 run to extend that advantage to 55-31 with 15:15 left after an alley-oop from Fears to Cooper.
Michigan State then took a 66-39 lead with 8:08 to play following a 3-pointer by Fears and a thunderous alley-oop by Carr off a pass from Fears.
Detroit Mercy had a brief hustle, cutting Michigan State’s lead to 20 at 71-51 with 4:52 left after a Nate Johnson basket from the baseline.
But the back-to-back Spartans restored their lead to 24 at 75-51 with 3:32 left and both teams emptied their benches.
Michigan State held a 41-25 lead at halftime, shooting 12 of 22 on 2-pointers in the first half.
Leading 21-13 midway through the first half, Michigan State went on an 8-2 run to take a 29-15 lead with 4:42 until halftime.
The Spartans then took a 17-point lead, 37-20, with 1:53 left in the first half.
Michigan State started strong, taking a 17-4 lead 7:30 into the game as Detroit Mercy missed 16 of its first 18 shots to start the game.
–Field level media
