Although that game was a low-point of his career, Walton has tried to share it so others can learn. Prior to the Spartans’ 77-62 first round win over No. 15 seed Robert Morris in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, the senior captain held a meeting with MSU’s three freshmen to share that story and tell them what the NCAA Tournament was all about.

“It’s now or never,” Walton said of his message. “The next time we lose we’re going to be done and we’re going to be packing it up, so you have to find your way when things aren’t going right and you have to find your way to contribute.”

All three freshmen contributed Friday night, most notably freshman forward Draymond Green, who scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field in the win. Freshman guard Korie Lucious also chipped in with four assists in 16 minutes, while freshman forward Delvon Roe had four points and five rebounds.

Walton’s message to the freshmen came in similar fashion to that of MSU head coach Tom Izzo’s message to the freshmen and sophomores on the MSU roster. Izzo said he spoke to the underclassmen after the regular team meeting on Friday, warning them the NCAA Tournament is a whole different ball game.

“I just wanted to make sure they knew that if you come into the tournament with the same intensity (as the regular season) — whether we want to admit it or not — it’s not good enough,” Izzo said. “ … I just told them I can deal with the missed shots and certain things but I can’t deal with effort-related mistakes in this game and I’m not going to deal with it.”

Izzo admitted that at times he has to step back and remember that even with three fifth-year seniors — forward Marquise Gray and centers Idong Ibok and Goran Suton — and Walton that the team as whole still depends a lot on the other players.

While junior forward Raymar Morgan has had his share of tournament experience and sophomore guard Kalin Lucas earned some minutes last year, key contributors such as sophomore guards Chris Allen and Durrell Summers and the three freshmen still have a lot to learn.

With no player totaling more than 25 minutes on Friday, MSU’s first round game — coupled with Izzo’s message to the team — gave the Spartans a good first look at March Madness.

“He was basically just telling Kalin, me and the rest of the guys how it’s going to be,” Allen said of Izzo’s message. “(We) have to play hard, (we) have to play with energy and (we) have to play with defense.”

Through round one, it looks like MSU’s underclassmen got that message.

Originally posted 2:34 a.m.