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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Navy battled #18 Michigan State for the entire game, but came up just short in a five-point loss at the Quicken Loans Veterans Classic.

After touring the institution, eating at the mess hall and interacting with the Midshipmen on Thursday, No. 18 Michigan State struggled mightily during the business portion of the trip, squeezing past Navy 64-59 Friday night in the Quicken Loans Veterans Classic.

Looking back at his experience at the inaugural event, Spartans coach Tom Izzo said, "I was impressed with everything but Michigan State, to be honest with you."

Travis Trice scored a career-high 25 points for the Spartans, who blew most of a 13-point lead in the second half.

Though having a height advantage and supposedly a huge talent edge, Michigan State got all it could handle from the disciplined Midshipmen.

"The bottom line is, they played like they are: military people," Izzo said. "They didn't quit."

Michigan State led 44-43 with 11 minutes left and 53-50 with 7 minutes remaining before Navy went cold. A 3-pointer by Denzel Valentine, coupled with a layup by Branden Dawson with 5:29 to go, upped the margin to eight points.

It wasn't good enough. The Midshipmen cut it to 60-57, and again the Spartans appeared in trouble.

"We just weren't very good as a team, and they were," Izzo said.

Trice made the difference. The senior guard's driving shot with 1:46 left made it 62-57, and his three free throws in the final 18 seconds sealed it.

"It's not about me right now. It's about the team," Trice said. "We've got to figure out what we're doing wrong. That's not how we want to play."

Edward Alade led Navy with 12 points. The Midshipmen were outrebounded 38-30 but stayed close by forcing 15 turnovers and committing only 10.

"Unfortunately we lost by five points, but we were right with them the whole game," said guard Tilman Dunbar.

Each team went 6 for 10 from the foul line with Michigan State getting most of those attempts in the closing minutes.

A 3-pointer by Trice with 17:55 remaining put the Spartans up 42-29, their biggest lead. But the Midshipmen answered with a 10-0 run, getting points from four different players, and Izzo reluctantly took a timeout. When play resumed, Navy missed a chance to tie it when a 3-pointer by Brandon Venturini rimmed out. Trice scored on the other end, but it was hardly the beginning of the end for the Midshipmen.

"I blame myself," Izzo said. "It's my job to get them ready to play and I just don't think we did the things that we needed to do to be successful."

The Spartans didn't take a free throw in the first half, but 16-for-28 shooting from the floor and a 19-10 advantage on the boards provided MSU a 36-29 lead at the break.

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TIP-INS

Michigan State: For the third time in four years, the Spartans opened the season in an event connected with the U.S. armed forces. In 2011, MSU played on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson in front of President Obama. In 2012, the Spartans played in the Armed Forces Classic against UConn on Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Navy: Coach Ed DeChellis fell to 4-15 against Izzo. DeChellis was 4-11 against Michigan State while at Penn State and 0-3 at East Tennessee State.

UP NEXT

Michigan State plays No. 4 Duke on Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Navy plays at Notre Dame on Sunday.

POSTGAME NOTES
• The game was a part of the inaugural Quicken Loans Veterans Classic.
• VCU defeated Tennessee, 85-69, in the opening game of the event.
• Playing #18 Michigan State, Navy nearly pulled off its first upset over a ranked team in the regular season since the 1956-57 season and the first overall since the 1985-86 season.
• Edward Alade made his first career start and scored a team-high 12 points, his most ever against a Division I opponent.
• Tilman Dunbar, playing in his first game since Dec. 21, 2013, tallied 10 points, six assists and a career-high three steals in 35 minutes.
• Navy committed just 10 turnovers, while Michigan State had 15. Navy had 19 points off of turnovers.
• Starting forward Worth Smith left the game with a knee injury and did not return.
• The crowd of 5,699 fans was the largest for a non-Army-Navy game at Alumni Hall.