As with any preseason exhibition game, there were some good moments, but there were also some very shaky moments.

Michigan State men’s basketball beat Ferris State on Tuesday night inside the Breslin Center, 85-67, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows against a Division II opponent. At one point early in the second half, the Bulldogs cut MSU's lead all the way down to just five points.

After the game, head coach Tom Izzo admitted that his substitution rotations hurt the team’s momentum, but he wanted to see different lineups on the court to evaluate how the players did.

The best group of five that played in the game was a three-guard look with freshman Jase Richardson, redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. and junior Tre Holloman on the floor with sophomore Coen Carr and junior Jaxon Kohler in the front-court. It likely was not a coincidence that those five had the best five plus-minuses on Tuesday.

“We got some good stuff done,” Kohler said. “Something that I noticed when that lineup was out there, there was just different energy out there. We were playing tough. We were playing with energy. We brought life to the floor.”

The three-guard look with Fears Jr., Holloman and Richardson added a playmaking element to the floor for the Spartans.

“Me, Tre and Jeremy, I feel like all three of us kinda play point and guard positions,” Richardson said. “So, just having us three on the floor, I feel like we have a lot of playmakers.”

Richardson led the team with a plus-19 in 10 minutes played. He added eight points, three rebounds and one assist as well. Richardson was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting, including making two 3-pointers.