ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It doesn’t matter if Michigan State is unranked or No. 1 in the nation entering a season. At some point in nonconference play, the wheels will fall off on the floor, MSU will narrowly defeat a team it should have easily handled and a puzzled Tom Izzo will talk about all that went wrong and speculate on the carnage to follow if things don’t turn around in a hurry.

One game into the season, we can check that game off the list. Now MSU is hoping it won’t become a regular occurrence for the new-look Spartans.

“It’s a good thing to get it out of the way, especially with a young team,” big man Matt Costello said. “Just get the work done now.”

There’s plenty of work to be done following the Spartans’ 64-59 win over Navy in Annapolis, especially considering No. 4 Duke is next on the schedule Tuesday in Indianapolis. Thus, it won’t be a fun couple of days for Izzo or his team.

“It’s gonna be a late night tonight,” Costello said. “We’re gonna get back, get to bed as quick as we can and practice (Saturday), probably have a two-a-day. Just refocus. It’s gonna be a grind, coach is gonna go crazy, but you just gotta take it and move forward.”

Costello shouldered plenty of the blame for his individual effort Friday, finding himself in quick foul trouble and finishing with six points, seven rebounds and four fouls in 22 minutes. Senior Travis Trice should be proud of his 25-point effort and MSU wouldn’t have won without it. But even Trice drew criticism from Izzo for a few lapses on defense and other minor errors.

“I had a lot of mistakes,” Trice said. “(But) it’s not about me, it’s about our team. We have to figure out what we are doing wrong. … I expected it to be smoother than this and we all kind of fell apart. It’s just a learning experience.”

Friday’s game indicated there will be a few more painful lessons down the road, as the No. 18 Spartans look to adjust to life without Gary Harris, Keith Appling and Adreian Payne. For as well as this team gets along, they desperately missed those three former players against the Midshipmen, especially on the defensive side. It didn’t help that the unquestioned leader of the team, Denzel Valentine, didn’t play well at all and made just 2 of 10 shots. Izzo said that was easily the most confusing part of Friday’s game.

“I really was expecting it to be smoother,” Valentine said. “We had a good walk through this morning and a good shoot around and were really feeling good about how we were playing.”

It will be even more difficult Tuesday and who knows how many games after that with Alvin Ellis III sidelined. He suffered an ankle sprain early Friday, forcing Bryn Forbes into a starter-like role at shooting guard with Izzo tinkering his lineup more than expected due to the injury. It’s unlikely he’ll be back for Duke, and unlikely the Spartans win that game barring a miraculous turnaround over the next few days.

“We just have to do a better job communicating,” Branden Dawson said. “If we don’t, like coach said, we’re gonna get blown out.”