Michigan State 87, Oklahoma 76
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- When a team has the type of supporting cast that Michigan State does, it can afford your leading man to have the occasional off night.
Michigan State (6-0) overcame a subpar performance from leading scorer Adreian Payne to turn back pesky Oklahoma 87-76 on Saturday night in the final of the Coaches vs. Classic at the Barclays Center.
Keith Appling and Gary Harris picked up the scoring slack, scoring 27 and 21 points, respectively, for the No. 1 Spartans. Brandon Dawson added 18 points.
Michigan State was just 23 of 36 from the free throw line and committed 23 fouls.
Payne, who averages 19.8 points per game, was held in check by Oklahoma's zone. He scored just four points, his lowest output of the season, amid foul trouble. Payne sat down with four fouls with 8:38 left and didn't return until there was 3:04 left in the game.
Forward Cameron Clark scored a career-high 32 points for the Sooners (4-1).
Michigan State received scoring from nine different players.
Isaiah Cousins was fouled beyond the arc and drained three free throws and Buddy Hield's 3-pointer from the left corner drew Oklahoma to within four at 73-69 with 3:53 remaining.
But the Spartans responded with a 10-5 run to grab a comfortable 83-74 lead with 1:09 to play.
The Sooners got as close as 57-53 midway through the second half, but Appling's traditional three-point play and dunk on a fast break moved the Spartans lead to 62-53 with 9:29 to play.
A Dawson dunk ignited the Spartans and gave them their first lead at 30-29 with 6:40 to go in the first half. From there, Michigan State used a 15-2 burst to provide a 45-31 first-half cushion.
Dawson scored eight of his 12 first-half points during the spurt.
Oklahoma took a 22-11 lead with 10:50 left in the half, holding Payne in check. The Spartans' big man didn't hit any of his three shots from the floor and grabbed just one rebound.
NOTES: Michigan State made 14 3-point field goals in the 96-77 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night, matching the second-best game in school history, and the Spartans set a record with 35 3-point attempts. ... The Virginia Tech game was the second time this season that two Spartans posted a double-double. Branden Dawson had 12 points and 10 rebounds and F Adreian Payne netted 29 points and 10 rebounds. ... Oklahoma boasts seven players averaging 8.5 points per game. ... The Sooners had scored at least 40 points in every half this season.
