EAST LANSING, Mich. — Tom Izzo stood a foot off the sideline, wiggling his fingers and shuffling from his left foot to his right. He leaned forward and back. Looked right. Looked left. Hand over his heart. This was only the anthem. Nothing to be nervous about.

But the nerves of a season-opener have never quite left for Izzo, now 31 seasons into his career as Michigan State’s coach. Maybe he had a right to be, because Colgate gave a fight Tuesday night at Breslin Center in the 22nd-ranked Spartans’ 80-69 victory.

Colgate tied the game twice in the first five minutes of the second half, taking it to a Michigan State defense that played sloppy early on. But Michigan State pulled away on the break, and it dominated the glass 47-25 to win comfortably with a double-digit lead for most of the final five minutes.

Coen Carr got out and ran in the second half, though his struggles at the free throw line — he hit 1 of 5 there in the game — allowed Colgate to stick around.

It took six straight points by MSU guard Trey Fort — a 3 and three made free throws — to get a multi-score lead. It grew to 53-45 with 12 minutes to play, after freshman wing Jordan Scott made a heady inside pass to forward Jaxon Kohler after drawing two defenders into the corner. Kohler drew an and-one but missed his free throw, then Scott got the offensive rebound.

Those were the opening blows of a 15-2 run, interrupted only by a Jalen Cox layup for Colgate.

Michigan State (1-0) took the game over, as Coen Carr scored five straight points off a pair of dishes from Jeremy Fears Jr., who finished the game with 14 points and 10 assists. The first came on a lob, and Carr converted the free throw after earlier misses. The next score came after Fears swiped one of his four steals from Colgate point guard Andrew Alekseyenko, then hit Carr with a pass off the backboard for another dunk. Carr finished the game with 12 points.

Colgate (0-1) called timeout to try and get the game back in control, but a few open looks didn’t fall. And at the other end, Kohler drained a 3 to make it 61-47.

Colgate sparked an 8-0 run of its own to respond, thanks to late closeouts and some better finishing. But it didn’t draw closer than seven points. Michigan State got to the line on its trips down the court. Kohler, who had 15 rebounds in the game, scored six points of a 10-2 run into the game’s final four minutes, Michigan State up 72-57 after a pair of Scott free throws.

The game had some late theatrics. After Carr took a foul defending in the paint, Colgate’s Alekseyenko received a Class A technical foul with 3:48 to play. Then Izzo earned one of his own yelling at the officials.

Colgate cut the lead to nine points twice in the final 1:05, but didn't draw closer. Fears tallied the final points on two free throws, as Michigan State finished the game 24 for 37 at the line.

Michigan State started the season with a deficit as it lost the opening tip-off and gave up a 3, but it quickly got it back. Fears commanded the offense, settling in with the first bucket and dishing 3s to Kur Teng and Kohler. The Spartans led 8-3 after a whistleless four minutes, three seconds to open the game. Colgate shot 1 for 7 from the floor to that point, and 1 for 5 from deep.

Colgate’s shooting vastly improved later in the half to finish the first frame 6 for 14 from deep. Strained by extra passes, Michigan State’s defense looked disheveled. Poor switches, late closeouts and lagging physicality in the post all gave an overmatched Colgate team some wiggle room.

At halftime, Michigan State led by a slim 37-34, its offense hampered by eight missed shots in a row right after a Fears turned a swipe into a score just past six minutes in. It took a full five minutes and 14 seconds before he’d get them out of the slump himself, a Coen Carr free throw the only other point in between as Colgate drew to within one point, 14-13, with around nine minutes to play.

Once Fears got the lid off, Michigan State’s offense found more of a groove as it got out and ran. Though some points had to come at the free throw line, the Spartans had 13 points on the break in the first half. But Colgate hung around with that strong shooting. Sam Wright, a 6-foot-8 forward from Alabama, had nine points by halftime.

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