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EAST LANSING - Three things we learned during No. 1-ranked Michigan State’s 85-50 victory over Albion College on Tuesday night at a mostly-full Breslin Center, two questions and one prediction.

The No. 1-ranked Spartans are less than seven days away from playing No. 2 Kentucky in the biggest early stage of the college basketball season, but a ways away from being ready to live up to the billing.

“There’s a lot of things to feel good about, and a lot of things to make us realize we need a lot more work,” said head coach Tom Izzo.

Cassius Winston scored 16 points to go with nine assists and four steals while Xavier Tillman scored a game-high 19 points.

The Spartans stammered to an 18-16 lead against last year’s Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament Champion.

Tillman dunked an alley-oop pass from Winston (22-16), and nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing (25-18) to help ignite an 18-4 run against Division III Albion, a team with a good scoring guard and a solid, Big Ten-level post player.

Aaron Henry’s double-clutch lay-up through transition traffic closed the run and gave Michigan State a 36-20 lead.

Michigan State controlled things the rest of the way as experimenting with playing groups became more important than the score.

The Spartans flexed some skillful muscle at times. Izzo wasn’t all that concerned about his team’s 17 turnovers, but a little uneasy about the number of roles that need to be determined in time for next Tuesday’s date under the national microscope.

“I think we’re on our 26th or 27th practice, and that seems like a long time,” Izzo said. “Now we have a week. I wish we had a little more time to get healed up.”

Senior wing Kyle Ahrens is out for at least another week with an ankle injury. Josh Langford is out until January, or worse, with with a foot injury.

“I’m excited about it,” Izzo said of Tuesday’s game against Kentucky at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

No. 3 Kansas will play No. 4 Duke in the early game.

“Very seldom do you get, in the same venue, teams ranked as high as these four,” Izzo said. “How do you beat this for our conference, our university, for our program and for our team, to be involved in a 1, 2, 3, 4.

“I don’t know if we’re ready for that right now but what a great opportunity to see. The exposure of the night and the way it’s going to be, and to have the late night game so people can watch all over the country is great for Michigan State and should be a lot of fun for the players. Hopefully we will get better. We have a week and we have to have improvement.”

In the meantime, Izzo is hoping to hear positive news from the NCAA about the Joey Hauser case. Hauser is a sweet-shooting, 6-foot-9 power forward who transferred to Michigan State from Marquette. MSU is applying for him to receive immediate eligibility. The NCAA initially rejected the application, but Michigan State is appealing.

“They say we are going to hear something maybe Friday,” Izzo said. “I do think they (the NCAA) are trying to get everything done but we are running out of time. Joey is a heck of a player, so we’ll see what happens.”

When asked what Michigan State could do with Hauser if they had him for the Kentucky game.

“Lots,” Izzo said with a smile.

While awaiting the Hauser decision, Izzo is looking for a starter (and a finisher) at power forward. He’s been frustrated that all of his candidates have done a few things well in the preseason, but no player has separated himself as the obvious starting choice.

Kithier started at the four on this night and did nothing to hurt his candidacy. Kithier had a game-high 11 rebounds. He scored seven points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field. He's slippery, efficient and physical enough.

Kithier has always had a nice shot release, but has rarely been asked to shoot from beyond 15 feet. On Tuesday night, he nailed a 3-pointer off a baseline in-bound play to give Michigan State a 53-27 lead in the second half.

Kithier didn’t attempt a 3-pointer last season. He played double-digit minutes only seven times last year.

On Tuesday, he tied his career high with 19 minutes played. He had three assists, no turnovers and one blocked shot.

“I thought he rebounded well,” Izzo said. “He has great hands. He didn’t get as many shots as I was hoping. That three that he hit is all that we can ask out of him.

“Four of our starters played really well and Thomas might have been the biggest bright spot.”

Freshman power forward Malik Hall, a skillful 6-foot-7 athlete from Aurora, Ill., by way of Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas, was sturdy, poised and mature.

Hall scored 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting in 14 efficient minutes. Hall had four rebounds and was 3-of-4 from the foul line.

“I thought he did some really good things,” Izzo said. “He competed. He is physically gifted enough.”

The quick-leaping Hall is a well-built specimen with a smooth face-up jumper, although he didn’t get a chance to show it on this night. He let the game come to him, rather than interrupting the proceedings to go shot-hunting.

He was down and ready on defense, especially when playing away from the ball.

When playing post defense, he was firm with his space.

“I thought at times Malik showed that he could be the most ready right now, mostly because of his physical gifts,” Izzo said.

Bingham struggled in the first half, getting bodied up in the post by 6-foot-7 Albion center Caden Ebeling, and committing a wild-pitch turnover on an errant high-low pass.

Bingham was better in the second half, and nailed a 3-pointer on a screen-roll-replace play run for him. Bingham finished 1-of-4 from the field with five rebounds and five blocked shots in 15 minutes.

Those five blocked shots give Bingham a chance to be a rim-protecting difference-maker, if he can take care of the ball and not get bullied around.

“He still has 20 pounds to go,” Izzo said. “He did play better in the second half and started blocking some shots but I thought he got pushed around a little bit. So we told him that at halftime.”

The Spartans played Albion, last year’s Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament Champion, because Winston’s younger brothers play for the Britons. That's 100 percent of the reason why Izzo scheduled this game. The youngest Winston of the three, Khy Winston, a freshman, scored 3 points for the Britons, hitting a 3-pointer over Cassius in the second half.

Cassius pushed the tempo during MSU’s next possession and tried to get it back, as this NCAA exhibition game briefly took on a bit of a friendly, sibling driveway rivalry with big brother looking to reestablish dominance. But Winston didn’t manage to answer while Khy was on the court.

“I hope he knows that by giving up that 3 to his brother, that his brother won the duel,” Izzo said with a smile. “When Cassius was on his brother, and his brother was on him, the score was 3-0, so he (Cassius) is going to have to live with that the rest of his life.”

Cassius acknowledged that he tried to dominate Khy when he had the brief chance. But after the game, he liked the way it turned out.

“I’m glad he made that shot on me,” Cassius said.

It’s just a matter of time with this kid, Rocket Watts. He’s a talented, strong, physically-mature combo guard. Izzo started him at the two on Tuesday, with Ahrens out, and Watts did fine. He can do even better.

“Rocket played awfully well for a freshman who came in and had to do what he had to do,” Izzo said.

Even if Ahrens were healthy, there’s a chance Watts would be starting. Ahrens, ever the selfless teammate, told Izzo that it might be best to go in that direction.

The question is whether Watts or Ahrens (or Gabe Brown) will become the choice to finish a game, to go with Winston and Henry on the perimeter. A lot of that will depend on the situation, the opponent and who is playing well.

Watts, who was ranked the No. 38 player in the nation by Rivals.com last year, admitted he was nervous prior to the game - marking the first time he can remember being nervous for a basketball game in years and years.

Watts missed time earlier this month with an Achilles tendon tweak.

Watts was 0-for-5 from 3-point range and 2-of-7 overall. He has prolific scoring potential. The question is whether he will be a consistent pure shooter this year, or a streak shooter.

“He can’t do all the things he can do,” Izzo said, in reference to Watts’ recovering health. “He really does have rockets for legs. He gets out on that break and he is a lot quicker than you think.”

Watts had five rebounds, four assists and two turnovers.

“I was impressed with him defensively today,” Izzo said. “He rebounded the ball pretty good. He didn’t shoot the ball at all like he can shoot it. That was a little disappointing.”

Watts said the nervousness subsided right after Tuesday’s game began. The nerves will likely get a little more severe for Watts next week at The Garden, with the level of competition ramped up, too.

“One thing Rocket brings to the court is that he is a great athlete that can guard, like a Keith Appling,” Izzo said. “For a freshman, he is kind of in that Gary Harris mold as a tough S.O.B.”

Watts played in the backcourt with Foster Loyer at times. Watts has the potential to check a difficult point guard or scoring guard, which allows Michigan State to put Loyer on a lesser defensive assignment. If that combination can work against some opponents, it allows Izzo to manufacture a little bit more depth at the wing position - something that's severely needed.

“He (Watts) wants to do it, so it makes us where we can play other people because we can move some guys around," Izzo said. "I don’t think you will see that a ton, but I think you will see that some. A lot of it depends on the first week or two, and how much Kyle can play.

“Rocket has been a real pleasant surprise. He is better at some things than I thought he was. He’s been an unbelievable teammate. He’s just cheering for everybody.

“When you recruit a kid, sometimes you don’t know exactly what you get, but this has been great for me and for my staff and for my team.

“I think we’re going to see as he gets that leg better and better - he just started dunking again - he is going to be an exciting player to watch.”

Loyer scored six points while going 2-of-5 from the field, and 2-of-4 from 3-point range. He had four assists and no turnovers in 15 minutes.

Loyer played extended minutes as coaches watched him closely, trying to get a feel for how much they can ask of him next Tuesday and in coming early-season showdowns.

Izzo said he felt Loyer struggled “a little bit in the first half. He played better in the second half.”

I’m expecting Henry to become a contender for All-Big Ten status this year. But at times, the inconsistent ways of his freshman season arise. That was the case, Tuesday.

He had an ugly turnover or two, and was a little passive at other times.

Henry had four points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. Henry was 0-for-3 from 3-point range and 2-of-6 overall.

“The last two days in practice, he shot the lights out,” Izzo said of Henry. “He is a much, much better shooter.”

He didn’t show it on this night.

“He still needs to be pushed,” Izzo said.

Izzo pushed him at halftime. And then he replaced Henry with Brown in the starting lineup for the second half.

“In the second half, I think you saw him a lot more aggressive, and that’s what we need out of him,” Izzo said.

Henry put forth the play of the night when he exploded from the right wing, changed speeds with the dribble, and then elevated for a gigantic, one-handed swoop dunk to give Michigan State a 65-36 lead with 9:58 to play.

“That play was J.R.-ish,” Izzo said in reference to former Spartan great and eventual NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. “Not many people make that move, and he did it ferociously.”

Henry had six rebounds and three turnovers.

“He is putting it on the floor and he is being a little loose with the ball,” Izzo said. “He had three turnovers early, but we are asking him to do more offensively, do more with the ball, do more defensively.

“I think he has so much more to his game. And the area he can improve the most is rebounding the ball at both ends, because that’s where I think his biggest gift is. He can become an unbelievable offensive rebounder.”

I was surprised we didn’t see more control from Henry.

1. I’ll take Michigan State to eke out an exciting victory over Kentucky.

The Spartans are not nearly as good, right now, as they were in March - due to all that they lost, and the delays in replacing that talent.

I doubt that Michigan State is actually the best basketball team in the country right now, but I understand those who think Izzo will pilot the thing well enough to make the Spartans the best in the country by March.

There are a lot of pieces in progress for Michigan State, and pieces in progress for Kentucky, too, which lost to Auburn in the Elite Eight last year. But I’ll take Cassius Winston's decision-making ability as the difference.

* Sophomore wing Gabe Brown scored nine points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range. He began the game as a sixth man. But he started in place of Henry at the three in the second half.

“He brought energy with a couple of dunks,” Izzo said. “I thought he attacked really well, got some rebounds.”

* Michigan State committed 17 turnovers. That’s been a problem for Michigan State over the years, and it likely always will be, as long as Michigan State tries to push the pace and runs an offense that tries to create scoring chances off the pass rather than the drive.

“Considering how many guys we played, some of those turnovers are going to happen because guys don’t know where guys are going,” Izzo said. “Playing that many guys won’t be the norm.”

* In the final minutes, members of The Izzone began chanting “We want Izzo!” as they normally do for their favorite bench-warming walk-on. But the chant was much louder than usual, and more entertaining, as Izzo’s son, freshman Steven Izzo, was the subject of their wishes.

The crowd roared when he checked in, and roared the first time he touched the ball, and gasped with anticipation as he let a 3-pointer fly from the left wing. But it resulted in an airball.

“I can’t believe the kid shot an airball the first time,” Tom Izzo said after the game with a smile.

Coach Izzo blamed himself.

“I watched him in warm-ups at Midnight Madness,” Izzo said. “He really shoots the ball well, he didn’t get that from me. In the warm-ups, he shot an airball, about three feet short. I said basketball is like golf. If you don’t get it there, it has no chance to go in.

“He listened to the coach and he shot it three feet too long.”

But Steven Izzo drew a foul in the final minute and went to the line for a one-and-one free throw. He got the first free throw to bound around and go in. The crowd erupted.

“I have to admit it was cool,” said Coach Izzo. “I don’t know what to say; it was fun, it was cool.

“I made sure I didn’t take anybody else’s minutes away. I told Frosty (Foster Loyer), ‘Is it okay if I do this?’ He was great.

“I appreciate the fans, the students, but I really appreciate his teammates. That was probably his chance of the year. He will probably redshirt or green shirt or something now. So he got in the books. I felt good about that for him.”

* With Ahrens and Langford unavailable, Michigan State is suddenly thin at the wing positions again. Brown ise the only scholarship option off the bench right now, unles you cound the Loyer/Watts combo experiment.

Conner George, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Okemos, entered the game at the 10:15 mark of the first half. George, who is a capable shooter, was 0-for-2 from the field, including 0-for-1 from 3-point range. He had two rebounds and played eight minutes.

He's a banger of a wing, but his lateral movement isn't ideal.

“Conner worked his tail off, made some unbelievable plays defensively in not letting the ball go into the post,” Izzo said. “Brock Washington made a couple of plays at the end.

“We are trying to see who fits in at the four spot, and we don’t know what’s going to happen with Kyle, so we’re looking at some other guys at the two, too. We are digging down here a little bit.”

* Freshman big man Julius Marble played 8 minutes and was 1-of-3 from the floor. He fell awkwardly while failing to finish a fastbreak alley-oop pass from Winston. He was helped off the court, favoring his left shoulder. But he returned to the game later.

Marble missed nearly three weeks of practice recently while getting a heart ailment checked out, Izzo said in his pre-game radio interview. Izzo said the tests came back fine, “thank God.”

Marble looked a little rusty in failing to get up to finish the alley-oop. He is a more explosive leaper than he showed on that play.

He missed a jump hook on the right block in this game. His hook shot is also better than he showed in that instance.

* Winston had four steals. Winston was slow on defense early in his career, better last year, and appears to be even better this year.

“I think the added strength in his legs, I just felt like he was moving very efficiently,” Izzo said.

* As for MSU’s style of play, there were no major changes from the norm. No zone, no pressing.

Michigan State used the high-low pass from big man to big man more than usual, and also used drives off the side ball screen more than usual. Michigan State was also in mid-season form with a deep array of baseline in-bound plays, which yielded several open looks.