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Harris, Spartans crush Wolverines

Feb 13, 2013 - 5:34 AM East Lansing, MI (Sports Network) - Freshman Gary Harris scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range as eighth-ranked Michigan State dominated rival No. 4 Michigan, 75-52, in the series' first-ever Top-10 matchup.

Derrick Nix netted 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and Keith Appling added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans (21-4, 10-2 Big Ten), who have won four straight and 10 of their last 11 games overall.

"First of all, I'm very proud of my team and my staff," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "We did an excellent job of preparing for the different things we wanted to do. Keep it in perspective that we probably played our best game in three years and they probably played one of their worst. They missed shots and things just didn't fall for them."

Trey Burke had 18 points, four assists and three steals for the Wolverines (21-4, 8-4), who have lost two straight and three of their last four games overall following a 20-1 start to the season. Nik Stauskas was the only other Michigan player in double-digits with 10 points in the setback.

Caris LeVert nailed a jumper to bring the visitors within 20-15 with 11:05 remaining in the first half, but that's the closest the contest stayed until things quickly, and abruptly changed.

Michigan State utilized a 15-4 surge as Matt Costello's layup with just under three minutes before the half made it 35-19. Michigan failed to register any points for a full five minutes during the stretch -- until Burke's layup with at the 6:05 mark -- before entering the break down and out, trailing 38-24.

Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan's second leading scorer at 16 points per game, struggled all night and didn't find the scoreboard in the first half -- shooting 0-for-6 from the floor, including 0-of-4 from downtown.

The 38 points surrendered at halftime were the most allowed by Michigan all season long, while MSU's Nix and Dawson had 10 and eight points, on a combined 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, respectively.

The domination continued into the second half, as the Spartans increased the margin to 52-31 off Nix's layup a little under seven minutes in.

It got even worse for Michigan as the game winded down and Keith Appling's free throw capped off an 18-8 surge which made it 70-39 with still over five minutes remaining.

"The whole place, the older people, the younger people were great," Izzo added about the home crowd. "It kind of reminded me of back in the days. Maybe this is what we need. We need our crowd to be back and our team to understand how hard we have to play. It was a big step for us. But don't think that's the real Michigan team because it's not."

Hardaway finished with two points on 1-of-11 shooting, while the remaining Michigan starters, Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III, managed just four and two points, respectively, in the disappointing defeat.

"Michigan State, as you saw today really has an excellent team," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "I've believed that all year long. They really played like that today. That was the worst we played in a long, long time and credit Michigan State for that. The experience in their post play was big. There were so many things we played poorly in, it's hard to put my finger on it. But Michigan State was excellent today."

Game Notes

The Wolverines' three previous losses coming into the contest came by a combined total of 14 points ... Michigan State has won 32 of its last 33 at home ... The Spartans have a 6-3 edge in matchups when both teams are ranked... MSU has found victory in 13 of the last 14 matchups at Breslin Center ... MSU was the third Top-10 opponent Michigan has faced in its last four contests.