Jase Richardson came off the bench to score 13 points as Michigan State beat Colorado 72-56 Monday in its first appearance in the Maui Invitational since 2019.
The Spartans (5-1) are playing in their sixth Maui Invitational, the fifth under coach Tom Izzo.
Colorado (4-1), playing its first game away from home in Boulder, got off to a strong start, taking an early lead, 16-13, with a 6-2 run, capped by a dunk from Bangot Dak with under 14 minutes left in the first half. Julian Hammond III hit a jumper to get Colorado within two, 25-23 with 7:42 left but Michigan State pulled away.
Jase Richardson hit a jumper with 6:06 left, Tre Holloman turned a three-point play and Xavier Booker followed his jumper with a pair of free throws a minute later to push the Spartans’ lead to 11 points. Trevor Baskin ended the 9-0 run with a jumper at 2:14 but Szymon Zapala answered with a dunk and his two free throws gave the Spartans a 38-25 lead at the break.
Michigan State led by as many as 19 in the second half.
The only Spartan to reach double-figure scoring, Richardson hit 6-of-8 from the field, knocking down one of his two 3-point attempts, to lead a 40-point effort by Michigan State’s reserves. The Spartans hit 30-of-61 from the field but were just 2-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Hammond hit 3-of-7 from behind the arc to lead Colorado with 15 points and four assists. Elijah Malone added 14 points. The Buffaloes were just 20-of-54 from the field (37%), including 4-of-19 from deep.
Michigan State will play Memphis, an upset winner over No. 2 UConn, Tuesday. Colorado takes on the Huskies in Tuesday’s opening game.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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