By no means was the first half of today's matchup between Michigan State and Washington pretty, even though both teams had field goal percentages approaching 50 percent.
But ultimately, UW has gained control of this game while MSU looks to farther behind in figuring out who they are in Maui.
And after an especially sloppy start, the game's frenetic play ended up working in Washington's favor - Michigan State turned the ball over on a third of their possessions and helped Washington to a 44-34 halftime lead.
Michigan State committed 13 first half turnovers and although center Garrick Sherman leads the team tied with a game-high three turnovers, the transgressions came from across the roster and the Spartans have continued to look disorganized.
Among the other challenges for the Spartans has continued to be rebounding, where UW is only ahead by one rebound by also leads in offensive rebounding percentage by a margin of 38 percent to 30 percent.
Things were no better for MSU defensively as they sort of illustrated that the difference between a scrambling and swarming defense might be something more than semantics - they seemed a step behind UW on multiple possessions, resulting in being out of position and committing a number of bad fouls. Of course, MSU's 14 first half fouls also benefited Washington, which shot 17 free throw attempts and made 10.
UW guard Isaiah Thomas was one beneficiary of the free throw opportunities, shooting 3-for-4 and scoring a team-high 10 points.
For a game thread, visit SBN's Washington Huskies site UW Dawg Pound.