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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- History, not revenge, was the
motivating factor for No. 1 Michigan State.
Charlie Bell scored 26 points and tied a career high with 11
assists as Michigan State beat Wright State 88-61 Saturday to reach
11-0 for the first time in 102 years.
|  | | Charlie Bell tied a career high with 11 assists in the Spartans' 22nd consecutive win, longest streak in the nation. |
Michigan State left little doubt that there wouldn't be a repeat
of the Raiders' 53-49 upset of exactly a year ago.
"It was in the back of our heads, but we can't get caught up in
last year," Bell said. "It was a big loss for us and a big win
for them. We set some goals for ourselves for this year and we
didn't want them standing in the way of those goals."
Mike Chappell added a career-high 21 points for the Spartans,
who began the 1991-92 season 10-0.
"I made a bigger deal about winning 11 in a row," Spartans
coach Tom Izzo said. "I didn't use (the loss) much. Our motivation
was that we have to get everybody playing better for the Big Ten
season. I said 100 times that they deserved to win last year. We're
not worried about what happened last year."
The victory also was the Spartans' 22nd straight spanning two
seasons, which matches the school record set during the 1998-99
season. Michigan State has also won its last 36 home games, the
longest streak in the nation.
"It might not matter a lot to them right now, but I'm proud for
these seniors to get a place in history, and it will mean something
to them down the road," Izzo said.
The Spartans had a pair of 11-2 runs in the first half and
finished the first 20 minutes with a 51-24 lead after Bell's
3-pointer with a second remaining.
"To some extent, we did pretty much what we wanted to do,"
Wright State coach Ed Schilling said. "We wanted to make them take
contested jump shots. ... Tonight they didn't have many misses.
They were on fire. But they're really, really good."
Michigan State had an 8-7 lead when Bell's two free throws
triggered the first 11-2 spurt. It was capped by a 3-pointer by
Chappell.
The second 11-2 run started with a basket by Chappell with 6:06
remaining in the first half. It ended with a three-point play by
Zach Randolph that gave the Spartans a 37-17 lead with just over
four minutes left.
"Everybody was really happy to see Mike shoot the ball like
that," Bell said. "When he's shooting before practice, he'll
knock down nine out of 10, but sometimes in a game he starts
thinking too much. Tonight he had a lot of confidence and we tried
to get him the ball."
Michigan State, which shot only 32 percent in last season's loss
to the Raiders, shot 53 percent from the field, including 60.6
percent in the first half. The Spartans held Wright State (9-3) to
38-percent shooting for the game and 29.6 in the first half.
"The biggest difference I see from last year is that their
inside play is so much improved," Schilling said. "They're so
fast and so strong. And when their perimeter guys are making shots,
my goodness. And they're so well-coached that you're not going to
get a break there, either."
Chappell, who hit eight of 10 shots from the field and made four
of five 3-point attempts, gave Michigan State its biggest lead of
the game when he made one with 8:23 left to put the Spartans ahead
78-44.
Kevin Melson led Wright State with 14 points, and Israel
Sheinfeld added 13.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Wright State Clubhouse
Michigan State Clubhouse
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