New York — Kur Teng stood in front of his locker at Madison Square Garden, smiling. It’s a wide smile, never just a smirk. And after Michigan State took care of Kentucky, 83-66, at the Champions Classic, it lit up the room.

It’s a smile that Teng hasn’t worn the first few games of Michigan State’s young season. A quiet start to the season cost him a starting role at shooting guard. He didn’t even play in the second half of a win over Arkansas, passed over as a rotational outsider. When Teng finally had a good game — a career-high 10 points against San Jose State last Thursday — a stumbling second-half sapped the happiness right out of the Spartans’ locker room.

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