Baylor Bears at Michigan State Spartans

No. 20 Bears beat No. 24 Spartans 73-58 in Battle 4 Atlantis

The result was a second lopsided win against a ranked team in 10 days, along with the No. 20 Bears earning a trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.

Johnathan Motley scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half and the Bears shot 55 percent after halftime to beat the 24th-ranked Spartans 73-58 on Thursday.

"We were able to get stops and we were able to get some transition buckets," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "And when we're able get in transition with some easy ones, that loosens things up."

The Bears did a lot of things well. They controlled the boards. They had 24 assists on 30 baskets. They scored 19 points off turnovers.

The Spartans just weren't able to mount much of a pushback. They went 7 minutes between baskets spanning halftime as Baylor made its push, while the Spartans' thin front line was no match for the 7-foot Lual-Acuil and 6-10 Motley.

"We were bigger than them in the paint and we think we're tougher," Motley said, "so we just used that to our advantage."

"We were moving the ball and really playing well I thought through the first half, and we quit doing that," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "I just think we looked awfully tired. I can accept that that's my fault, not theirs."

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IZZO'S APOLOGY

Michigan State has already lost to Arizona in Hawaii and Kentucky in New York. The Spartans travel to Duke next week in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Izzo said he did a terrible job putting together a schedule that has left little time to practice and try to develop his team.

"I actually apologized to my team," he said. "And yet, I've always played a tough schedule. ... You know what? You can take it as an excuse, you can take it as the truth, I don't give a damn. I'm telling you what I did. This ain't on them. It's on me."

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With Michigan State down two big men because of injuries, Lual-Acuil, Ishmail Wainright (eight rebounds) and Motley helped the Bears control the inside. Baylor outrebounded Michigan State 36-29 and held it to three offensive boards while scoring 44 points in the paint.

UP NEXT

Baylor: The Bears will play No. 10 Louisville, which beat Wichita State later Thursday, in Friday's championship game.

Michigan State: The Spartans will play Wichita State in Friday's third-place game.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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