Durrell Summers and Draymond Green combined for 39 points to lead No. 11 Michigan State to an 87-68 victory over Texas-Arlington on Wednesday night.
Summers had 20 points, 13 in the first half, for the Spartans (10-3), while Green added 19 in a balanced attack in their final nonconference game.
But Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had to be happiest with the play of reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas, who responded to a benching with 16 points.
Lucas was held out of practice Tuesday to spend some time thinking about his leadership role. He did that and played 29 minutes, as many as any Spartan.
Marquez Haynes, the nations No 2 scorer, led the Mavericks (5-5) with 20 points, 5.2 under his average. Brandon Long added 16 points for Texas-Arlington but was just 6 of 19 from the field.
Michigan State scored the first 12 points of the game, had a shutout for the first 5:30 and built an 18-2 lead after 6-plus minutes.
With three starters injured, the Mavericks answered and cut the 16-point lead to six at halftime with six 3s in 12 attempts.
Texas-Arlington trimmed the lead to four points early in the second half, only to see the Spartans get a run and build their cushion to 24.
Michigan State shot 50.8 percent from the field, had a 39-29 advantage on the boards and 21-11 in assists.
The Mavericks shot 43.6 percent from the field and were just as accurate from long range, hitting 10 of 23 tries beyond the arc. But they committed 22 turnovers.
The Spartans begin their defense of the Big Ten title on Saturday at No. 25 Northwestern.
Copyright 2009 AP News
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