The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Michigan State Spartans got an early start on the exhibition season and Spartans fans had an opportunity to get a first look at the 2016-17 version of the programme.

Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr finished with eight points and two assists in the No.9 Spartans’ 93-69 win over the Northwood Timberwolves at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.

Nairn, the junior point guard, played 23 minutes, shot 3-9 from the field, including an encouraging 1-2 from beyond the arch.

“We just got to get in, watch a lot of film and see what we can do a better job at. The coaches will break the film down, we’re gonna break the film down and just try to get better as much as we can,” Nairn said.

Freshman forward Miles Bridges led the Spartans with 33 points and eight rebounds on 12 of 14 shooting from the field, while Nick Ward added 19 points off the bench.

The Spartans shot 32-57 (56.1 per cent) from the floor for the game, including 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. Bridges knocked down the first nine shots he took, including 17 first-half points on a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor.

Northwood cut the lead to 10 with just under eight minutes remaining, but MSU closed the game on a 23-9 run to pull away and secure the victory.

Michigan State tallied 22 assists on 32 made field goals, led by freshman Cassius Winston, who provided nine helpers. Winston also added nine points.

MSU forced 14 turnovers, leading to a 19-3 edge in fast break points and dominated the paint with a 47-24 advantage down low.

In his assessment of his team’s first exhibition performance, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo highlighted Nairn’s improvement and his role among the Spartans’ guards.

“This team was a little smaller than the ones we’ll be playing in a week and-a-half. I didn’t think it was bad. I don’t think Tum (Nairn) can take nine shots. He was three-for-nine, and has been shooting it a lot better. But (Matt) McQuaid has to get some of those, (Eron) Harris has to get some of those, and even Cassius (Winston) has to get some of those. We have to define the roles a little bit better here. It was just one of those things where I think Tum feels like they’re going to sag off of him. We didn’t run a lot of things today. We have some packages that will exploit people that do that to Tum,” Izzo said.

“Does it help us quite as much? I don’t think in competition, but I think our guys learned tonight too that they can’t get caught up in the lights or the crowd. You wouldn’t get that if it was a scrimmage. Maybe the perfect world - one of each? We’ll get a lot out of this film.”

Michigan State is featured in the preseason poll for the fifth consecutive season and the No. 9 ranking is the highest since the 2013-14 team entered the season as the second-ranked team in the country.

The Spartans will face three Top 15 opponents in November. They have a potential matchup with No. 14 Louisville in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and the Spartans have never played four Top 15 opponents in any month during the regular season.

As a sophomore, Nairn battled a nagging plantar fasciitis injury all season long but missed just seven games, while ranking among the national leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (7th, 3.78).

In 28 games played last season, Nairn averaged 2.8 points and 3.3 assists per game.

Prior to the injury, Nairn started all 18 games at point guard and averaged 4.1 points and 4.5 assists in 24.1 minutes per game.

MSU closes out exhibition play on Wednesday, November 2 at 7 pm when it hosts Saginaw Valley State at the Breslin Center. The regular season begins on Friday, November 11 in Honolulu, Hawaii when the Spartans take on No. 11 Arizona in the Armed Forces Classic.