No. 17 Michigan State stays unbeaten with 84-56 win over Detroit Mercy

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Coen Carr scored 11 points in the opening seven minutes and finished with 13, and Jeremy Fears had 18 points and 11 assists to lead No. 17 Michigan State to an 84-56 win over Detroit Mercy on Friday night.

The Spartans (5-0) followed up their 83-66 victory over No. 12 Kentucky in New York City with a rout at home against an overmatched team led by former Michigan State point guard and assistant coach Mark Montgomery.

Michigan State, which beat then- No. 14 Arkansas two weeks ago, will likely play a third game against an AP Top 25 team when it faces No. 18 North Carolina on Thanksgiving in Florida.

Carson Cooper scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and Jaxon Kohler had nine of his 13 points after halftime, helping the Spartans coast to the lopsided win after getting off to a strong start.

The Titans (1-5) started 0 of 10 from the field and missed 16 of their first 18 shots before improving their shooting.

It was too late.

The Spartans led 17-4 midway through the first half and 41-25 at halftime.

Michigan State maintained a comfortable cushion, keeping fresh players on the court as coach Tom Izzo used an 11-man rotation before going even deeper down the bench late in the game.

One of the loudest cheers of the night came when Nick Sanders, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, made a 3-pointer with 1:10 left.

Detroit Mercy’s Orlando Lovejoy had 14 points. Ayden Carter and TJ Nadeau each scored 10.

Detroit Mercy plays at DePaul on Sunday night.

Michigan State plays East Carolina on Tuesday.