WASHINGTON – Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 23 points, and George Washington forced No. 11 Michigan State into committing 22 turnovers Saturday in a surprisingly easy 96-83 victory.

T.J. Thompson had 18 points and Carl Elliott added 17 for the Colonials (4-1), who have won four straight following a season-opening loss to top-ranked Wake Forest. George Washington had dropped 12 in a row against ranked teams since defeating St. John’s in December 2000.

George Washington will face No. 12 Maryland on Sunday in the championship game of the BB&T Classic. Maryland advanced by beating George Mason 78-54 earlier Saturday.

Michigan State (3-2) will play in the consolation game.

Maurice Ager scored 22 for the Spartans, who were coming off a 81-74 loss to Duke on Tuesday. After Michigan State cut a 15-point deficit to six with 5:27 left, the Colonials used a 10-2 run to pull away.

GW had five players score in double figures and went 9-for-14 from 3-point range.

Down 49-38 at halftime, the Spartans used a 3-pointer by Chris Hill and a layup by Paul Davis to get within six. Minutes later, however, J.R. Pinnock scored from beyond the arc to spark an 8-0 run that put GW up by 14.

MSU then closed to 59-50 before Pinnock made a three-point play and Elliott sank a 3-pointer in a 7-2 spree that gave the Colonials a 67-52 lead with 12:45 left.

The Spartans again got within six, but GW had an answer for every comeback attempt that MSU could muster.

In a first half featured 11 lead chances and seven ties, GW forced 13 turnovers and used a late surge to take a double-digit lead at the break.

Up 35-34, the Colonials got two 3-pointers from reserve guard Ricky Lucas in a 10-0 run that upped the margin to 11. Ager ended the drought for the Spartans with a layup, but GW kept the pressure on right to the halftime buzzer.

AP-ES-12-04-04 1805EST