Michigan State came away with an 80-68 win over Georgia in a charity exhibition game on Sunday benefiting hurricane relief.
Miles Bridges led the way for the Spartans with 21 points, while Yante Maten paced the Bulldogs with 33 points on the day.
Maten was the only Georgia played that scored in double figures.
Final stats from Michigan State-Georgia: pic.twitter.com/HGy2X5R4it
— Luke Srodulski (@lsrodulski) October 29, 2017
The Bulldogs were without senior forward Pape Diatta and sophomore guard Jordan Harris.
The game was held in front of a sold out crowd of 10,699 at Van Andel Arena with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross to aid recent hurricane victims.
Lovell’s Analysis
Another intriguing exhibition result for an SEC team.
It appeared that Fox’s squad played well at times, and of course, it was Maten that stole the show.
This postgame quote summed up Tom Izzo’s thoughts on Maten:
“I should be fired for letting him get out of this state,” Izzo said.
But in all seriousness, Maten’s performance shouldn’t surprise anyone that has seen him play in recent years. He hasn’t gotten the national recognition that he deserves due to Georgia’s lack of NCAA Tournament appearances, but perhaps that could change this season.
However, for that to happen, he’ll need help around him.
No one else scoring in double figures in this game isn’t all that shocking since we knew that was the biggest concern for this team following J.J. Frazier’s departure (and again, it’s only an exhibition game).
Another concern on the stat sheet is the 4-of-18 shooting from 3-point land, which seemed like an area of weakness heading into the season.
But getting that extra scoring help to keep pressure off Maten is what Georgia will need to keep pace in the SEC this year.
Let’s also keep this in mind: Michigan State is a legitimate preseason Top 5 team.
Fox can take plenty away from a game against a team of that caliber, and that should help the Bulldogs gear up for the start of the regular season.