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  Saturday, Dec. 2 7:30pm ET
Spartans win 33rd straight home game
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan State didn't look back or ahead and that wasn't good news for Illinois-Chicago.

The Spartans (No. 2 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) beat the Flames 97-53 Saturday night to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games.

The Spartans (5-0) were not still celebrating Wednesday's 13-point win over No. 6 North Carolina, nor were they focused on the rematch of the NCAA championship game against No. 10 Florida on Wednesday at home.

Michigan State's Zach Randolph scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench. Jason Richardson had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Andre Hutson added 11 points and a career-best 12 rebounds for the Spartans, who have won 33 straight games at home.

"This was a good test for us because we're going to have to learn how to play with intensity regardless of who we're playing," Richardson said. "Now I'm ready for Florida. They're going to come in here looking for revenge, but we're going to have to come right after them too."

The Spartans controlled the Flames (2-3) from start to finish and turned the game into a full-fledged rout by opening the second half with a 16-1 run, which gave them a 61-27 lead.

"It looks to me like they are still a championship team," Illinois-Chicago coach Jimmy Collins said. "Of course, our kids were intimidated. But that's no reason why we couldn't have played with them. I would have liked to think that we could have played to within 30 points."

Jon-Pierre Mitchom led Illinois-Chicago with 12 points. Aaron Carr added 11 points.

Illinois-Chicago managed to keep its deficit to single digits for the first 10 minutes of the game. Michigan State then outscored the Flames 10-2 to take a 33-18 lead and had little trouble maintaining a sizable lead.

"A lot of people were probably expecting us not to go all-out," Hutson said. "But we were determined not to have a letdown."

The Spartans led 42-24 at halftime. They didn't allow Illinois-Chicago to get closer than 19 and their lead hovered around 40 points for much of the second half.

Michigan State brought a lot of players off the bench in the second half, but many of its reserves would be starting for a lot of other teams and they played with intensity as if the game was close.

The Spartans' streak of 33 wins at the Breslin Center only trails Utah's run of 54 wins in a row at home. Their 16 straight wins overall is second in school history to the 22-game winning streak set during the 1998-99 season.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had some questions entering the game and he was relatively pleased with the answers his players provided.

"Where would we be looking," Izzo asked. "Would we be patting ourselves on the back about Wednesday's win or thinking ahead of Wednesday's game? I think we did a decent job of staying somewhat focused. That's a step in the right direction for a team that is looking for some leadership."
 


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