Dec. 11, 2004
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Paul Davis scored 20 points and keyed afirst-half surge to lead No. 20 Michigan State to a 78-53 win over Stanford onSaturday.
Michigan State (5-2) took control with an 18-4 run midway through the firsthalf and was able to coast the rest of the way. Davis started the spurt with alow-post move for a basket, then added a jumper and three-point play.
Matt Haryasz led the Cardinal (2-4) with 12 points. Stanford's Dan Grunfeld,who was averaging 19.4 points, was held to six on 2-of-8 shooting.
Michigan State's Maurice Ager scored 12, Alan Anderson had 11 and ShannonBrown added 10. The Cardinal played for the first time since Nov. 28 and willnot play their home opener until Dec. 18 because Maples Pavilion is beingrenovated.
Stanford led 13-6 after converting five Michigan State turnovers into 11points before the game slipped away from the road-weary team.
The Spartans made four straight shots - following a 2-of-13 start - to takethe lead for good. The decisive run gave Michigan State a 24-17 lead and it ledby nine at halftime.
Davis scored the first basket of the second half to give the Spartans theirfirst double-digit lead, which they built to more than 20 with balanced scoringand aggressive defense.
Michigan State made 49 percent of its shots and held the Cardinal to 32.7percent in the Spartan Clash at The Palace.
The Spartans fell nine spots in The Associated Press poll last week afterlosing at Duke and to George Washington.