EAST LANSING, Mich. — It took one half of the game to figure out that Michigan State would beat Toledo handily Tuesday night at Breslin Center. In some respects, the warning signs showed as early as warmups.

An undersized Toledo roster had no answers for Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler, who had a double-double by halftime and led Michigan State past Toledo, 92-69. A 30-point lead at halftime made the second half all but a dress rehearsal as the Spartans tested out some rotational tweaks as conference play nears.

The win is Michigan State's highest scoring game of the season, beating an 89-point outing against East Carolina at the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

Kohler finished the game with 16 points and 13 rebounds, the latter the bulk of a 54-24 team lead on the glass. Point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and eight assists, while shooting guard Kur Teng added 14 points off the bench, one off a career high, with four 3s. Coen Carr also had 14 points.

Toledo guard Sonny Wilson (Detroit Jesuit) led his side with 27 points on 15 shots, most of which came in the second half.

Where Toledo’s roster lacked was among its bigs, where center Austin Parks (6-10, 250) had the size to hang with Kohler but had another matchup to worry about in center Carson Cooper. The rest of Toledo’s forwards, including Sean Craig and Grand Rapids product Jaylan Ouwinga, could hardly stop him in the first half.

Michigan State started the second half up 30 points, 58-28, though Toledo trimmed that with a 5-0 run out of the half.

The Spartans (10-1, 2-0 Big Ten) settled in with a give-and-go between center Carson Cooper and guard Divine Ugochukwu, making his second straight start at shooting guard. Cooper nearly had the first 3 of his career soon after, but it went in and out. And though a turnover from Carr put Tom Izzo’s hands on his hips on the sideline, Carr made a leaping block off the backboard and finished a spinning power dribble dunk to give Michigan State a 64-36 lead.

Carr made a one-handed jam that brought fans to their feet soon after, and he drew a foul to boot. Michigan State kept scoring at will, as Teng’s fourth 3 of the game fell for a 73-42 lead with 12:11 to play.

Even up big, Michigan State kept on the pressure. Kohler — with a double-double in the first half — was the first on the floor alongside Teng for a loose ball with 11 minutes to play. And Izzo didn’t put up with imperfection. After a few haphazard possessions from his backups including guard Denham Wojcik, Izzo called timeout and put in his starters while up 27 points.

Mistakes crept in still, and as Izzo picked up a turnover by Cooper right into the MSU bench, he slammed the ball down before heading to a timeout huddle. But hey, a 25-point lead can only be so bad, no matter the caliber of opponent.

And the game stayed a blowout. Toledo (5-6) never drew closer than 21 points down the stretch. Fans left the game with four minutes left to beat traffic. Izzo subbed in his deep bench, including Colin and Brennan Walton, the Okemos twins who hit back-to-back 3s in the final minute.

It took little time for Michigan State to build a commanding lead. Less than five minutes in, the Spartans led by double digits, 17-6, as Teng and Fears hit back-to-back 3s. Fears shrugged as his went in from the top of the key. It’d be that kind of night.

Those brushstrokes made a 9-0 run, stopped by a 3 from Toledo forward London Praytor. But Michigan State only continued to take over the game. Toledo’s undersized roster had no answers for 6-foot-10, 245-pound Kohler in the paint, where he banged home two contested layups. Then he added another 3, and followed that up with another layup. Ten straight points gave Kohler 14 points — more than Toledo himself — and MSU a 29-12 lead with 11:13 to play. Kohler finished the first half with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Meanwhile, Michigan State continued to play with its rotation. It kept Divine Ugochukwu starting at shooting guard, but subbed him early to mix in Teng and then Trey Fort. Jesse McCulloch got some more run at power forward, alongside center Carson Cooper, and he made an impact at both ends, running his lane for an easy layup and adding a 3 of his own. Fort, normally at shooting guard, played small forward with Teng and Fears the guards.

Toledo found some success shooting the ball with five of 10 made shots fired from 3-point range in the first half. One third-chance 3 from guard Kyler Vanderjagt cut MSU’s lead to 36-21 with 8:33 to play.

Still, Michigan State wasn’t perfect. Kohler drew the coaching of Izzo when he missed two putbacks off his own miss, and then another second-chance layup later on, during a stretch when MSU missed eight straight shots over roughly three minutes. Izzo subbed him out for freshman Cam Ward, and Ward and classmate Jordan Scott snapped the skid with two makes to go up 44-24 with five minutes to play.

Michigan State finished the half up 58-28, and the game little in doubt. Teng hit back-to-back 3s in the final two minutes, the last of which gave Fears his sixth assist of the half.

Michigan State will face Oakland on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena for a noon game broadcast on Big Ten Network.

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