EAST LANSING– Michigan State junior forward Coen Carr stole the show in Thursday’s exhibition and finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five blocks in the Spartans’ 75-66 win over Bowling Green.
Carr poses such a matchup threat to opposing teams, and Bowling Green was no match for the high-flyer.
“He’s one step away from being above the rim and once he gets in the air, it’s foul, or hope he misses,” Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon said.
Spartans head coach Tom Izzo felt that there is still a lot of room for improvement despite the final score.
“Well that’s why they call it an exhibition game, I thought there were some really good things that we did and there were some really poor things that we did,” Izzo said.
The MSU offense was quite efficient in the first half, it scored 49 points and shot 50 percent from the field. That was not the case in the second half, the Spartans scored just five points through two media timeouts.
But the lack of continuity led to some lapses on both ends of the court and allowed the Falcons to hang in the game as they found themselves only down three points late in the second half.
“Sometimes we have all five freshmen or new guys on there and that’s not healthy right now,” Izzo said.
Last season, the Spartans held opposing offenses scoreless down the stretch and continued that trend against Bowling Green; in the final 3:23 the Falcons did not make a field goal.
The Spartans rim-protection was top-notch, as they rejected 13 Falcons’ shot attempts. However, Izzo was disappointed with the output on the defensive end, as the Falcons continued to find open shots.
“Why are they getting in there? We don’t play that kind of defense or overplay, we play more of a gap style defense,” Izzo said. “Those guys shouldn’t be getting to the rim.”
Spartans’ junior point guard Jeremy Fears contributed 12 points and was an assist shy of a double-double. Fears is now the most experienced member of the Spartans’ backcourt and will have an even bigger role in the offense this season.
“Last year, sometimes I would be stressing or thinking about getting the lead but now just being in the system and in college basketball it’s knowing to take your time and be patient,” Fears said.
Sophomore guard Kur Teng was the newcomer to the Spartans’ lineup, the New Hampshire native scored seven points and made three-of-four shots after he missed his on his first four shot attempts.
Graduate-transfer guard Trey Fort had a solid performance off the bench in his first showing in the Green and White. Fort made his presence known on the perimeter and led the squad in three-pointers with three.
The Spartans have one remaining exhibition game as they travel to Storrs, Conn. on Tuesday, Oct. 28 to take on the No. 4 UConn Huskies, a championship caliber program that will be a good test for MSU.
