MSU Withstands Penn State’s 2nd Half, 6-0 in Big Ten Play

**Breslin Center- EAST LANSING, MI**

The Izzone was roaring but MSU had to withstand two second half runs by PSU in order to remain perfect in Big Ten play, winning their 10th straight game 90-85 Wednesday evening.

However, there was one voice that was loud and clear that was staunchly disappointed in their effort. That was Head Coach Tom Izzo in his post-game press conference, “We’re not anywhere yet…Don’t worry about the rankings, don’t worry about where we are, worry about what we need to get better at and let the rest come out in the wash.” Hey, that’s tough love but it’s the right kind in keeping a hot team even keeled and focused on the larger prize in mind; a date with Indianapolis, the city where MSU won their 2000 National Championship.

Don’t tell Tom Izzo the Spartans have won 10 in a row 😬

“We cannot handle success right now. Quit saying where we are. Because we’re not anywhere yet. We’re a good basketball team that’s still got a long, long way to go”pic.twitter.com/58Rmg54bDw

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 16, 2025

Points, Points, Points

Michigan State (15-2, 6-0 1st) [at the time of writing, UofM lost at MINN] sits alone of the Big Ten undefeated and did it behind an offense that broke 90 and with a poor 3-pt shooting effort. They owned slight edges in rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers, fast break points and enjoyed a plethora of free throws in the first half (in which fouls would end up only +1). However, they dominated in points in the paint (48-34) and points off turnovers (27-13) while almost doubling their offensive rebounds (15-8).

Frankie Fidler had his best offensive game of the year and played exceptional defense. He seemingly is finding his role and with it, a growing confidence. Fidler played 20 minutes and had 18 points (8-13FG), 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. Jaden Akins was his usual self with 16 points (6-13 FG, 3-8 3-pt), 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Tre Holloman was the final double-digit scorer with 10 points (3-9 FG, 3-4 FTs), 6 assists but struggled with 4 fouls in 27 minutes. Coen Carr missed a few potential highlight dunks and Jase Richardson tallied only 7 points and 1 assist in 26 minutes but also picked up a technical foul, defending teammate Szymon Zapala who appeared to go down hard after a foul was called. Officials reviewed the play and determined it did not rise to the level of a Flagrant 1. Jeremy Fears Jr. had a respectable 8 points and 7 assists but like Tre and Jase, he also had foul trouble and finished with 4. Izzo relied more on his guards to push the tempo and drive to the paint for opportunities. The Spartans were hustling, getting to lose balls and played like a hungry team with something still to prove.

Great to be back in front of the home crowd 🙌 pic.twitter.com/A3yN1BFiWc

— Michigan State Men’s Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 16, 2025

Penn State had 4 players in double figures: Ace Baldwin Jr. had a gutsy effort finishing with a game-high 20 points (4-8 FG, 11-12 FTs) and 9 assists, but had 6 turnovers. Zach Hicks tallied 14 points and 4 rebounds. D’Marco Dunn had a nice 18-point effort (7-13 FG, 4-7 3-pt) with 5 rebounds and 2 assists while Yanic Niederhauser chipped in 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists before fouling out (he also had 3 blocks). While they lost by 5, MSU seemingly let up some on defense, allowing 19 points in the final 4 minutes.

MSU never trailed in this contest and answered each Penn State run. This has been key in their current win streak; answering a run with one of their own, largely due to their defensive prowess, substantial paint production advantage, elite free throw shooting and improved ball handling efficiency in cutting down their own turnovers while owning the fast break. These are all key identity markers that have generally bode well for a successful regular season and deep runs in both the Big Ten conference tournament and March Madness tournaments. After the end of January, the competition will be at an all-time high; just the way Tom Izzo likes it. Expect some more fire, passion and tenacity as the days of going wire-to-wire or blowing teams out, will be almost all but non-existent and the team’s biggest critic understands that better than anyone. “Strength in numbers.”

TEAM STATS:

Spartans: 32-68 FG (47.1%), 6-23, 3-PT (26.1%), 20-24 FT (83.3%)

Nittany Lions: 28-53 FG (52.8%), 10-24, 3-PT (41.7%), 19-25 FT (76.0%)

Record/Rankings & More:

15-2 (6-0, 1st-Big Ten)
Updated KenPom- Off: 23rd / Def: 14th. Adjusted Tempo: 135th. SOS Net Rtg: 37th +6.09

Other Metrics: KPI (17th), ESPN SoR (10th), ESPN BPI (16th), T-Rank: 14th

FULL KenPom Stats: https://kenpom.com/index.php

FULL Bart Torvik Stats: https://barttorvik.com/#

FULL T-Rank Stats: https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2025/net-teamsheets-plus#google_vignette

NEXT ON THE CLOCK:

MSU will get right back to the grind in practice, as they will await #19 Illinois for a large conference showdown on Sunday (1/19) at 12:00pm EST on CBS. As of this written (1/16), Illinois (13-4, 4th Big Ten) bounced back after losing at home to USC by thumping Indiana on the road. Their other loses came to Alabama, Northwestern and Tennessee. Like MSU, their February includes a stretch of vs MSU, at WIS, vs Duke, vs Iowa, at UofM and vs PUR.