St. Cloud State vs. Michigan State: Spartans host another exhibition game

The Michigan State Spartans have one final exhibition tune-up on Friday night against St. Cloud (Minn.) State before their basketball season opener next week against Connecticut at Germany's Ramstein Air Base.

The No. 14 Spartans beat Northwood (Fla.), 85-57, Tuesday night in a game that featured a lot of sloppy play and mass substitutions. Coach Tom Izzo is expected to go with a more traditional substitution pattern against St. Cloud State.

Freshman Gary Harris stood out for Michigan State against Northwood, as did Travis Trice and Branden Dawson. Izzo would like to see more from his bigs on Friday, and he would also like to see his team push the ball as much as possible. The Spartans have focused on running hard in practice, but that did not occur at times on Tuesday.

St. Cloud State went 20-9 last season and is returning three starters. The Huskies are ranked No. 19 by Basketball Times in its Division II poll. Izzo's nephew Kevin Levandoski plays on the team.

Tip-off for Michigan State and St. Cloud State is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET at the Breslin Center.