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  Saturday, Dec. 30 7:30pm ET
Bell has double-double for MSU
 
  RECAP | 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
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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