Michigan State 76, Northwood 45 (exhibition)

Izzo's short-handed Spartans win exhibition with ease

Eric Lacy / The Detroit News

East Lansing -- It didn't take long for Michigan State to experience its first string of injuries.

Less than a week after coach Tom Izzo's team earned a No. 2 preseason ranking, the Spartans have become what Izzo called a "M.A.S.H. unit."

"Adversity is OK if there's a little bit of it," Izzo said after Sunday's 76-45 exhibition victory over Northwood at Breslin Center. "But this is ridiculous."

Izzo has several reasons to be concerned about the Spartans nearly two weeks from kicking off a brutal slate of nonconference games, starting Nov. 17 against visiting Gonzaga (8 p.m. ESPN).

Starting forward Raymar Morgan is expected to miss at least the next 10 days with what Izzo called "a bad sprain" in his left ankle. Morgan didn't play Sunday and sat on the bench with his left foot in an immobilizing boot.

"I feel sorry for Raymar," Izzo said. "He was having a great fall. He's going to have to battle through another injury."

Forward Delvon Roe also is hurting after he suffered what Izzo called a "partial concussion" in the victory that limited him to only seven minutes.

Guard Chris Allen needs at least a couple more days to heal from a groin injury, and backcourt mate Korie Lucious also needs time to recuperate from a surgically repaired right foot. Allen didn't play.

Lucious played 19 minutes, an amount Izzo said seemed a little too long.

Lucious sat out nearly six months after breaking his right foot in the national title game against North Carolina last April. The injury required two surgeries and most likely will take time for Lucious to completely recover.

He can practice and play games, but still receives limited amounts of drill work in practice.

Another guard, Durrell Summers, also appeared to give Spartans fans a scare late in the second half. He walked off the floor gingerly with less than two minutes left because of cramps.

Izzo, however, expects Summers to be fine this week in practice. He finished with a team-high 17 points, Kalin Lucas had 16 and Draymond Green added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman Derrick Nix made his collegiate debut and finished with 13 points in 13 minutes.

MSU's next game is a Nov. 9 home exhibition against Grand Valley State.

The regular-season opener is Nov. 13 against Florida Gulf Coast (7 p.m. ESPN360).

It won't be easy

MSU will face two top-five nonconference teams on the road in No. 6 AP/No. 4 USA Today North Carolina (Dec. 1) and No. 3/3 Texas (Dec. 22).

The last time an MSU team faced such tough competition was the 1999-2000 national championship season -- No. 2 North Carolina and No. 2 Arizona.

High regard

The Spartans' No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls is the best preseason ranking in school history.

Izzo's 1999-2000, '00-01 and '03-04 teams were ranked No. 3 before the season.

elacy@detnews.com