Spartans dominate Penn State, rekindle intensity

Oh, how things change when Penn State doesn’t attempt 51 free throws in a game.

The MSU men’s basketball team kept the fouls to a minimum and the high-speed to a maximum, defeating the Nittany Lions, 86-49, Wednesday night at Breslin Center.

Penn State attempted just 11 free throws compared to their previous 51 when they defeated MSU on Feb. 2.

“As you can imagine, it was a game we really needed not only to win but to get a lot of players involved and bring our group back,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.

“It was a nice eight- or nine-man rotation that I still think could play some dividends if we keep getting better.”

Izzo got all 14 active players in the game while 12 of those Spartans put the ball in the basket, shooting 58.3 percent from the floor.

But it was sophomore forward Raymar Morgan who led No. 19 MSU (21-5 overall, 9-4 Big Ten) with 16 points. Senior guard Drew Neitzel and junior center Goran Suton both added 10 points.

“It was huge — got me out of my slump a little bit and my confidence is back a little bit,” Morgan said. “It feels good.”

Perhaps most impressive was the team’s 30 assists on 35 field goals.

“That’s amazing,” Suton said. “We have to keep playing under control — we still have a long way to go.”

Leading by 12 points at halftime, the Green and White re-entered the court and immediately began to pour it on the Nittany Lions (12-13, 4-9) — blowing the door open with an 18-6 run to start the second half.

The 24-point lead would only continue to grow, as the freshman and bench players paced MSU for their final 29 points in a 37-point victory.

For Penn State, it was guard Stanley Pringle who contributed most, racking up 12 points and four rebounds while Jamelle Cornley added 11 and six of his own.

Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis thought his squad had a chance to shrink MSU’s 12-point halftime lead, but said it got out of control soon after that.

“We were really poor tonight, I don’t have any answers for that,” DeChellis said. “They shot the ball well, passed the ball well and we looked like we were a step behind everything tonight.”

And the Spartans’ usual Achilles’ heel seemed to heal tonight as they turned the ball over just seven times — the lowest since the game against Texas on Dec. 22.

“The seven turnovers was like music to your ears when you’re at Michigan State right now,” Izzo said with a smile.

The Spartans were all business from the get-go — jumping out to a 12-4 lead before the first TV timeout of the game.

Penn State would respond, though, scoring six straight points to trail by just two.

However, that would be the closest the Nittany Lions would come all night, as MSU began to build more and more of a lead in the final 11:31 of the half — heading into the locker room leading 39-27.

MSU finished the night outrebounding the Nittany Lions 38-25 and locking down defensively as Penn State shot just 34.6 percent.

The Spartans continue play against Iowa at 2 p.m. Saturday at Breslin Center.

Published on Wednesday, February 20, 2008