After its first home loss (at the Bryce Jordan Center) to then No. 15 Oregon on Sunday, Penn State will hit the road again for its final game of this three-game, top-15 ranked stretch.
PSU will take on the No. 12 Michigan State Spartans on Wednesday. Michigan State — one of only two Big Ten teams to have a perfect record in conference play — has a 45-10 record against the Nittany Lions and a 26-2 advantage when hosting. MSU swept the season series last year, with Penn State’s last win in East Lansing coming almost five years ago.
PENN STATEโS OUTLOOK
The Penn State bench celebrates during the Nittany Lions’ 102-89 win over Purdue-Fort Wayne, tying a program record for most 100-point games in a single season with three. (Penn State Athletics)
Michigan State enters Wednesdayโs matchup on a nine-game winning streak and has a perfect 8-0 record at home. During this streak, the Spartans have beaten North Carolina (NET 37, Q1), Nebraska (NET 45, Q2) and Ohio State (NET 31, Q1). In Quad 1 and 2 matchups, Michigan State has a 5-2 record, having beaten three straight opponents within those rankings.
This unrelenting Big Ten schedule — especially after a close defeat at home — leaves no time to dwell on past results.
โYouโve got to learn from it and build from it โฆโ said Rhoades following the loss to Oregon.
“The Big Ten is a beast. We all know that. But that’s what we signed up for. That’s the fun of it. And you saw the scores this weekend — you get your butt kicked one game; you can go win the next one. You might lose three in a row, you go win two in a row, now youโre hot โฆ You got to put your armor on and you got to go to work.โ
MICHIGAN STATE (14-2, 5-0)
HEAD COACH
Tom Izzo (30th season, 721-297)
Izzo is one of college basketballโs finest, holding the title for most wins by a Big Ten head coach (721) and ranking as one of 38 to reach 700 career wins. He is second all-time in Big Ten wins (348), trailing only Indianaโs Bobby Knight (353).
Last year, Izzo led the Spartans (20-15) to their 26th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance โ the longest active streak in the country โ and helped them advance to the second round.
KEY PLAYERS/STATS
Jaden Atkins, 6-foot-4, Guard
Atkins is the leading scorer on a guard-heavy Spartans team, averaging 14.1 points. The 6-foot-4 guard is posting 45.1/29.1/88.6 shooting splits, which increase to 45.1/42.3/90 in Big Ten play. During this nine-game winning streak, Atkins is averaging 15.2 points on a respectable 34.8 percent from 3.
Jeremy Fears Jr., 6-foot-2, Guard
Fears — a redshirt freshman — is the lead assist man for the Spartans, averaging the third most in the Big Ten (6.4). His 44.9 assist percentage ranks third in the NCAA and his 3.19 assist-to-turnover ratio is seventh in the conference. In five games of Big Ten action, Fears is averaging a team-high 7.6 assists and contributing 9.2 points per game.
Jeremy Fears Jr. ranks third in the Big Ten in assists per game (6.4) and third in the NCAA in assist percentage (44.9). (Matthew Mitchell Photography/Michigan State Athletics)
Jase Richardson, 6-foot-3, Guard
The second leading scorer (9.7) for MSU, Richardson is one of the best shooters in the Big Ten, netting 46.7 percent of his 3-pointers โ albeit on only 30 attempts. Among qualified scorers, the first-year guard is the only player in Division I who is averaging at least nine points on 59/46/82 shooting splits. In conference competition, Richardson is averaging 9.6 points and 1.2 steals on 51.5/30.8/83.3 efficiency.
Tre Holloman, 6-foot-2, Guard
Holloman is averaging career-bests in points (7.4) and assists (3.8, second on the team). He is yet to miss a free throw this season (18-of-18) and while his 33.3 percent shooting from behind the arc is subpar, in Big Ten matchups, that number jumps to 38.9 percent on 3.6 attempts per game. Over the last nine games, Holloman is averaging 8.4 points and 4.3 assists on 44.1 percent 3-point shooting.
Jaxon Kohler, 6-foot-9, Forward
Kohler leads Michigan State with 8.2 rebounds per contest, good for seventh in the Big Ten. In conference play, the big man is putting together a stat line of 8.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists (2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio).
Out on the Break
While MSU ranks in the 63rd percentile in KenPom’s adjusted tempo, the Spartans average the second-most fastbreak points per game (19.0) and have scored the fifth-most in that setting (304).
METRICS
Penn State enters Wednesday’s game ranked 51st in the KenPom standings and 52nd in NET. Michigan State, meanwhile, is 14th on KenPom and 15th in NET.
GAME TIME
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Breslin Center. Penn State’s full schedule is available here.
SPREAD
The Nittany Lions are 11.5-point underdogs against the Spartans, per DraftKings Sportsbook. The Over-Under Total is 154.5 and the PSU MoneyLine is +600.
TV
Penn State-Michigan State will air on the Big Ten Network.
