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Michigan State cruises past Santa Clara

Nov 25, 2014 - 6:18 AM East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Travis Trice made five 3-pointers en route to 19 points and the 20th-ranked Michigan State Spartans handled the Santa Clara Broncos, 79-52, in a non-bracketed game of the Orlando Classic.

Marvin Clark Jr. added 15 points and four blocks for the Spartans (3-1), who have won two in a row since a loss to Duke. Gavin Schilling tallied 14 points and 11 boards.

Jared Brownridge ended with 12 points for the Broncos (2-2), who have lost two straight.

The Spartans started the game on a 17-2 run and never looked back. They led by as many as 37 in the second half.

"I thought we played a great first half in a lot of ways," Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. "That ball is swinging around and that ball is moving. We're making extra passes and they're all looking for people."

Michigan State shot 43.9 percent from the field and went 12-of-30 from beyond the arc. Santa Clara, on the other hand, made just 29 percent of its shots.

"Well, that was fun ... if you're a Spartan fan," said Santa Clara coach Kerry Keating. "I'm not concerned about our team in a sense that we got it handed to us by a very good team, obviously."

Game Notes

Santa Clara won the only other meeting between these schools, as two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash scored 23 points in a 77-71 victory at the Maui Invitational in 1995 ... Denzel Valentine had 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Spartans ... Michigan State opens the bracketed portion of the tournament against Rider on Thanksgiving, while the Broncos play their first game of the Orlando Classic against Tennessee on Thursday.