No. 25 Michigan State shuts down Eastern Michigan 66-46, denying Eagles another upset

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bryn Forbes scored 14 points and Travis Trice added 13, and No. 25 Michigan State dispatched Eastern Michigan 66-46 on Wednesday night, denying the Eagles their second straight upset win over an in-state foe.

Eastern Michigan beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last week, but the Eagles (8-2) never led against Michigan State. Eastern Michigan shot 23 percent from the field, and although its 2-3 zone caused the Spartans (8-3) to look ragged at times, Michigan State did not seem especially troubled after the first few minutes.

The Spartans did lose standout senior Branden Dawson to an apparent left wrist injury with 15:30 remaining in the game. Dawson took a hard fall while trying to dunk the ball and did not return.

Raven Lee led the Eagles with 12 points.

Michigan State came in shooting 46 percent from 3-point range, the best mark in the nation. The Spartans went just 7 of 21 against Eastern Michigan, but Trice and Forbes connected three times each from beyond the arc.

Dawson got free for an alley-oop dunk to put the Spartans ahead 24-14, capping a 13-4 run for Michigan State. The Spartans led 34-19 at halftime and were ahead by as many as 24 points late in the second.

Marvin Clark Jr. scored 11 points and Matt Costello had 10 for the Spartans.

TIP-INS

Eastern Michigan: This was the worst shooting performance of the season for the Eagles. They have been held under 40 percent in five straight games. Eastern Michigan beat Michigan 45-42 despite shooting 33 percent from the field.

Michigan State: Dawson finished with four points and seven rebounds, but that was enough to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career. He came into the game with 998.

Dawson left the court after his hard fall, but he did come back to the bench area a short while later with ice for his injury.

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