The Land Grant Trophy doesn’t exist for basketball, but if it did, Penn State would have earned it with tonight’s 62-58 upset over No. 19 Michigan State.
It was the first win over a ranked team in the Micah Shrewsberry era, it kept Michigan State coach Tom Izzo from getting his 662nd win and tying Bob Knight for the most ever at a Big Ten school.
Penn State played a respectable first half, hanging with the Spartans and going into halftime tied at 24. Jalen Pickett led all scorers with 10 points in the first 20 minutes.
Michigan State started the second half on a 17-5 run and went up 41-29, but responded with a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to one.
Seth Lundy ended the night as Penn State’s top scorer with 10 points. For Michigan State, Julius Marble II led the way with 12. With 1:37 left Seth Lundy put Penn State ahead 55-54, and the Lions never lost fell behind again.
Free throws by Sam Sessoms and Dallion Johnson in the last 20 seconds sealed the game.
John Harrar was the man of the night for Penn State, with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Lundy led all scorers with 17 points, and Pickett finished with 10.
For Michigan State, Julius Marble II led all scorers with 14 points and Max Christie added 10.
Penn State’s next game is Thursday afternoon at 4:00 against Minnesota in a rescheduled contest.
