National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan St 93, Delaware 78
When: 4:40 PM ET, Thursday, March 20, 2014
Where: Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington
Officials: # Keith Kimble, # Ray Natili, # Bret Smith
Attendance: 10862

Michigan State 93, Delaware 78: Adreian Payne scored a career-high and Spartans tournament-record 41 points to lift Michigan State to a second-round win in the NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash.

Payne hit 4-of-4 3-pointers in a 23-point first half and made all 17 of his free throws - a tournament record for one game - for fourth-seeded Michigan State (27-8), which surged into a third-round matchup in the East Region with No. 12 seed Harvard on Saturday. Travis Trice scored 19 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting and Gary Harris and Branden Dawson added 10 points apiece as the Spartans won their tournament opener for the sixth time in their last seven appearances.

Devon Saddler led the Blue Hens (25-10) with 21 points while Davon Usher had 20. Jarvis Threatt contributed 14 points on 2-of-9 shooting as No. 13 seed Delaware finished with a 37 percent mark from the floor.

The Spartans' advantage was 24-18 just past the midway point of the first half when Payne caught fire, putting together a personal 12-0 run with three 3-pointers and a three-point play to make it an 18-point bulge. The Blue Hens responded with 11 straight points before Payne hit two free throws and another 3-pointer and Trice made a layup in the closing seconds to make it 44-33 at halftime.

Usher scored the first six points of the second half to cut his team's deficit to five, but Payne's free throws sparked an 11-4 outburst to push the margin back to double digits. Trice produced a jumper and a 3-pointer in a 7-0 push that made it 69-50 midway through the stanza and Payne's turnaround jumper with just over two minutes to go ended a Delaware run and helped drop the Blue Hens to 0-5 in tournament play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Greg Kelser owned the previous tournament scoring record for the Spartans with 34 points against Notre Dame in 1979. ... Payne has hit all 29 of his free throws in his tournament career. ... Dawson had a game-high eight rebounds as Michigan State finished with a 42-24 advantage on the glass.
Top Game Performances
 
Delaware   Michigan St
Devon Saddler 21 Scoring Adreian Payne 41
Devon Saddler 4 Assists Keith Appling 5
Jarvis Threatt 6 Rebounds Branden Dawson 8
Jarvis Threatt 9 Free Throws Made Adreian Payne 17
Barnett Harris 1 Steals Branden Dawson 2
Carl Baptiste 1 Blocks Matt Costello 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Delaware 78 36.4 8-20 30-39 7 20 1 4 8
Michigan St 93 53.6 10-19 23-25 16 38 2 4 14