Bodog Beat

Raymar Morgan and Drew Naymick were celebrating today. (AP Images)

OK, the headline's a little misleading. We just couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing than the performance the Temple Owls put forth today in Denver in the South region's first NCAA tournament matchup.

Final score: Michigan State 72, Temple 61. And that's a generous score. This just in: John Chaney has rolled over in his grave. (What's that, you say? Not dead? Oh.)

To its credit, Temple made a late run but the end result was never in question. The Spartans easily covered the 7-point spread.

Raymar Morgan led the way for State with a 15-point performance, going an impressive 7-for-9 from the field. Drew Neitzel, however, struggled, hitting just two of his 11 attempts for five points.

Ryan Brooks was the high scorer for Temple with 14 points while teammate Dionte Christmas was an awful 1-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-8 from behind the arc.

Michigan State moves on to meet the winner of today's game between No. 4 Pitt (-8.5) and No. 13 Oral Roberts. In other words, the Panthers. (Jinx!)

Stay tuned for all your March Madness first round results and recaps!

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