Final Stats EAST LANSING, Mich. – Due to a rash of injuries over the week, a short-handed Nicholls State University men's basketball team fielded just eight players against the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Spartans 84-39 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

With the loss the Colonels fall to 1-3 on the season, with all three losses coming on the road, while Michigan State improves to 6-2.

Without the services of usual starters Fred Hunter and Lachlan Prest, and Sam McBeath seeing limited minutes due to flu-like symptoms, all eight Colonels played on the evening paced by T.J. Carpenter who led the team with 11 points, all coming in the second half. JaMarkus Horace had his second double figure scoring game in a row, pouring in ten points.

Even with the lack of depth, the Colonels made a game of it early against the Spartans, holding Michigan State to just ten points with 11:53 in the first half, trailing by just one point at 10-9. But after that point, Michigan State began to pull away starting with a 10-4 run over the course of three minutes out of the break to go up 20-13, holding Nicholls scoreless for the final 8:05 of the half to go on a 17-0 run to lead 37-13 at halftime.

The Nicholls offense came to life a bit in the second, and got solid play from Carpenter who hit four shots and went 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Nicholls scored 26 points in the half getting eight points from Shane Rillieux.

Michigan State pulled most of its starters midway through the second, as four players finished the game in double-digits for the Spartans led by Keith Appling's 13. The Spartans finished the game shooting 60 percent from the field and got 52 points in the paint to Nicholls' 20.

Nicholls was held to a season-low 29 percent shooting in the game, being forced into a team-high 18 turnovers that the Spartans turned into 25 points. Michigan State outrebounded the Colonels 40-25, including pulling down nine offensively to earn a 16-6 advantage in second chance points.

The Colonels will be back in action on Tuesday, traveling to take on the Tulane Green Wave in Devlin Fieldhouse.