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Morgan, Allen lead Michigan State over Idaho

Nov 17, 2008 - 4:13 AM EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) -- In a season full of expectations, Michigan State opened the campaign in impressive fashion.

Raymar Morgan and Chris Allen scored 21 points apiece as the seventh-ranked Spartans cruised past Idaho, 100-62, on Sunday.

Kalin Lucas added 13 points and nine assists for Michigan State (1-0), which shot 11-of-20 from 3-point range.

"This was a game where I didn't really know what to expect because of the newness of (Idaho coach) Don Verlin being there and so many different players," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "We had some very bright spots like Kalin Lucas getting 13 points and nine assists and no turnovers. I think it was decent that we didn't turn the ball over much as a team."

The Spartans (1-0) sank 60 percent (34-of-57) of their field goal attempts, cruising to a 25-point halftime lead.

After suffering a blowout loss to Memphis in a regional semifinal last season that saw them trail by 30 at the half, Michigan State returns four starters, led by Morgan.

The 6-8 junior swingman, who averaged 14 points and 6.1 rebounds a season ago while being named to the All-Big Ten second team, shot 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free-throw line to lead the Spartans.

Michigan State is expected to compete with Purdue for the Big Ten title and has hopes of a deep NCAA tournament run.

"All in all, we shot the ball well, shot it decent from the free-throw line, didn't turn it over much and had a lot of assists, which means there was a lot of sharing going on," Izzo said.

Goran Suton contributed 10 points and Austin Thornton knocked down three shots from behind the arc to add nine.

The Vandals (1-1) cruised to a 91-69 victory over Evergreen State in their opener, but were outclassed by the Spartans.

"First if all, I would like to thank Michigan State for inviting us here and kicking our tails tonight," Verlin said. "They dominated us in every phase of the game. What we saw tonight was obviously a top-five team, or maybe even better. I thought they played really hard and executed their game really well and, like I said, they dominated us in every phase of the game.

Mac Hopson had 11 points before fouling out to lead Idaho.

Brandon Wiley added 10 for the Vandals, who were picked to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference in both the coaches' and media polls.