EAST LANSING - Lake Superior State had the daunting task of opening its men's basketball season against NCAA Division I powerhouse Michigan State and got an early taste of the Spartans' talent as pre-season All-Big Ten First Team selection Raymar Morgan scored 20 points during the first 14 minutes of action. 

MSU, which is ranked sixth in the Associated Press pre-season poll and No. 7 in USA Today/ESPN pre-season poll, went on to win Monday's exhibition game in front of approximately 10,000 fans at the Breslin Center, 112-69.

Michigan State stormed to a 20-2 lead during the first five minutes of play and led 39-18 when Morgan took a seat with 6:04 remaining. Mark Morse scored eight points, and Garrett Konuszewski and Ryan Kuhl had five each as the Lakers trailed 61-28 at halftime.

"Well obviously, we ran into a buzz saw tonight, a team that has far superior talent," LSSU coach Steve Hettinga said. "I really felt like we hung in there for some spurts in the game, but our bad spurts were really, really bad spurts. A great team and a great program like that will take advantage of a team that doesn't play well in spurts. They went on some massive runs. Obviously, they crushed us on the glass, especially in the second half when they had 18 offensive rebounds. It was a little out of hand at that point. I was proud of our guys' effort. I was excited for the opportunity to come and play, and I thought our guys, in spurts, showed some really good signs. [Give] lot of credit to Michigan State and the way they played. They really put it on us early and took us out of the game right away. It took our confidence in the first five minutes and we never really seemed to recover from that."

Morgan, a junior, was the Big Ten's sixth leading scorer last season, averaging 14 points per game. He totaled 19 points during last week's 118-57 exhibition victory over Northern Michigan.

Morse and Scott Perkins opened the second half with back-to-back baskets, forcing MSU coach Tom Izzo to call a timeout at 18:31. Morgan answered with a three-pointer coming out of the timeout, igniting a 9-1 Spartan run, but the Lakers stayed within three points (21-18) of Michigan State during the first eight minutes of the second half.

MSU controlled the boards throughout the game, enjoying a 63-33 rebounding advantage. Hettinga noted the Spartans' 18 offensive rebounds in the second half.

"We're trying to make it a sense of urgency every time we step on the court," Izzo said. "I said it a million times, when you lose a game or two that you really believe in your heart you shouldn't, you realize that takes you out of a championship contention. We have made more of an effort to make sure every time we are on the court we are getting more aggressive and there is more consistency. You can miss every shot you want. Any casualness or non-communication, that is why we pulled some guys. We have enough pieces to this puzzle to be really good as long as people are playing as well as they can play. They need to be scared of not playing hard. I think we are making steps."

Morse went on to make 5-of-7 shots from three-point range and lead the Lakers with 19 points. Perkins finished with 10 and Kuhl had nine.

Morgan led five Spartans in double figures with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Marquise Gray finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers officially open their season at 3 p.m. Saturday at home against Lewis during the first round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference vs. Great Lakes Valley Conference Challenge.

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