MSU falls to Penn State 72-68, loses back-to-back home games
Korie Lucious, Draymond Green and Delvon Roe, from left, watch alongside head coach Tom Izzo as Sunday afternoon’s home game against Penn State slips away during the final moments. The 72-68 loss is the second in a row at home for the Spartans and was the Nittany Lions’ first win ever at Breslin Center.
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All season long, Kalin Lucas has thrived under the pressure of late game situations. So with seven seconds left and his team trailing Penn State by two, he knew it was his shot to take.
The sophomore guard dribbled the ball up the court, shimmied off a defender and pulled up from inside the arc.
“I wanted to try to drive and just try to create,” said Lucas, who moments earlier had missed a free throw that would have tied the game. “But the way they played it, they covered it pretty well. Then I thought I had the pull-up and I just missed.”
Lucas scored 23 points, but it was his misses that made the difference Sunday, as Penn State staved off a furious late-game surge to upset No. 9 MSU 72-68 at Breslin Center.
“The game wasn’t won or lost on Kalin Lucas’ free throw, it was won or lost when we were seven up and we just decided not to guard,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “I thought the only guy that really guarded today was Kalin.”
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The loss marked the first time since December 1997 that the Spartans (17-4 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) dropped back-to-back home games. The skid comes during a year when MSU set a school record by winning their first five conference road games.
After the game, the players and assistant coaches had a closed team meeting to discuss their recent struggles at Breslin while Izzo was attending the postgame press conference.
“We’re not taking care of our home court,” said senior guard Travis Walton, who finished with two points. “When you lose games at home and win them on the road, it’s a problem.”
Talor Battle finished with a career-high 29 points for the Nittany Lions in a contest that at times was eerily reminiscent of the Spartans’ home loss to Northwestern.
Just like the Wildcats did when they beat MSU 70-63 on Jan. 21, Penn State erased an early deficit by hitting an endless chain of 3-pointers — including some that were launched from well beyond the arc.
Battle was especially lethal from deep, finishing 6-of-12 from long range. Most of his shots came during crucial moments in the game.
As a team, Penn State finished 10-of-20 from long-range and shot 56.3 percent from the field, while MSU shot 5-of-20 from deep and 42.6 percent for the game.
“I’ve never seen two losses with banked-in threes, 35-foot threes,” Izzo said. “I can’t really condemn those as not guarding, but we let them get hot there at the seven-minute mark of the first half and that changed the whole game.”
Starting for the third straight game, sophomore guard Durrell Summers — who scored nine points on 4-of-12 shooting — gave MSU a 12-point advantage when he zipped through the air and converted on an and-1 layup with 6:11 to go. But that’s when Penn State began to mount its comeback.
Battle and forward Jamelle Cornley (16 points) combined to hit three consecutive treys that sliced MSU’s lead to four points, 29-25, with 4:37 to go in the half. Lucas momentarily stopped the bleeding with a pair of jump shots, but Penn State continued to make mincemeat of the Spartans’ defense.
Cornley made an unimpeded dunk, Battle hit an uncontested layup, and Cammeron Woodyard hit a 3-pointer in front of MSU’s bench to bring Penn State within two.
After MSU senior forward Marquise Gray got called for traveling, Battle milked the clock down to seven seconds and hit his fourth triple of the afternoon to give Penn State a 38-37 halftime lead.
“He is a big-game player; he loves the atmosphere,” Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis said of Battle. “He wanted the ball and he got it going a little bit and we kept letting him have the ball.”
Cornley’s jumper extended Penn State’s lead to five in the opening minutes of the half, but he got called for a technical foul while racing back on defense that tilted the momentum back to MSU.
Lucas, who was held to six points in the first half, exploded for nine points during the first five minutes of the second period, making both technical free-throws, a layup and an off-balance 3-pointer that gave MSU a 49-47 lead.
Penn State, though, responded once again with an 11-0 run in less than three minutes. Battle capped the spurt with his sixth 3-pointer of the game that have his team a 59-49 lead midway through the second half.
The Spartans look to bounce back Wednesday against No. 24 Minnesota. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at Breslin Center.
Commentary
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Chris
(02/01/09 7:44pm)Report
I feel bad for Michigan State. For Penn State to beat them to win the Big Ten title in football as well as beating them for the first time ever in East Lansing in Basketball should liven up this forced rivalry.
Shawn
(02/01/09 11:04pm)Report
Tough loss at home! MSU needs to focus when playing at home. I think this team has the talent to play in the Final 4 but focus will be crucial. Credit is due to D. Summers and K. Lucas but R. Morgan is missed big time.
Julius Holmes
(02/01/09 11:25pm)Report
This has been a tough last two weeks at the breslin…northwestern and penn state both hit some pretty unbelievable shots at times…sad part about it is that our freethrow situation is becoming a bit irritating. They need need to nip that in the bud before march.
SoCal Spartan
(02/01/09 11:36pm)Report
Man, I woke up from sleeping in and pulled up my lil widget and poof PSU was bolded, and MSU was not. WTF happened! Discouraging start to February. Come on guys, let’s hoop them up. Hoop em up BAD!
Regardless, I still bleed green and am thinking GO SPARTANS!, after all…the games ain’t important till we ride into the madness!
lol
(02/02/09 1:03am)Report
okey.. its better to lose now and get over it, than lose at the end of compet., not get over it and go out to destroy East Lansing once again. It’s just a game people, please don’t go out destroying East Lansing this year.
phxspartan
(02/02/09 9:35am)Report
I warned you guys on friday not to overlook Penn state! LOL is right though, it is just a game
Dave
(02/02/09 10:28am)Report
It’s upsetting to see a team with so much talent lose games that should be won. This team is probably the most athletic and talented team we’ve had in awhile. However, their determination to win is extremely questionable. Most good teams, when up by 13, would crush the opposing team and not let them get back in the game, especially at home! Once this team gets their crap together and develops a killing instinct, they’ll be damn good.
Ridiculous
(02/02/09 12:57pm)Report
Can someone answer this? Why does Izzo keep drawing up plans for Chris Allen when the game is on the line? Aside from the point that he shouldn’t even be on the court in crunch time, the man has not hit a big shot all year and hasn’t been the 3 point phenomenon we saw last year. I’m sick of the huge possession and we always always set up a play for a 3 its been happening since the Chris Hill era. Pound it into Sutton or have Lucas drive and then potentially dish! Very frustrating.
Izzone 98-02
(02/02/09 1:13pm)Report
The Izzone is WEAK!!!
The Izzone is not the reason for the loss, yet I don’t think it’s coincident the whole section seems less intense letely, not helping the team properly.
The students around the corner (especially behind the opponent’s bench) are just cheering the game, get loud only when things are exciting, and there is a guy who has been in Pittsburgh Steelers gear at all times behind the TV crew. (I wanted to shoot that guy so bad.)
As a former member of the Izzone, currently living in Southern California, it is EMBERRASSING to see the crowd like those. SAF must take action to reorganize the section, keep our tradition alive!
Overall, PSU and Northwestern is not that bad BB team. I hope our team learns from the loss and grow. Meanwhile, the Izzone members have to reconsider their part, take the accountability and ownership to regain “THE best college arena” title.
Spartygold
(02/02/09 3:15pm)Report
What will it take for this team to squash people when they have a big lead. It aint over til it’s over-the lack of concentration when they have the lead is ridiculous-this is the Big Ten not Jr. High..I also agree-the Izzone stinks this year-what happened ? Teams don’t fear Breslin anymore.
Jeff
(02/02/09 4:16pm)Report
I agree with Izzo that games are not won and lost with that last basket, but the shot choices throughout the game were frustrating. Why is the team launching nothing but long-range jumpers when they’re up by 10? Start working the inside and draw some fouls on their scorers. With 10 seconds left and speeding down the court, Lucas pulls up for a fade-away with a hand in his face? Seems like continuing the speed to the hole for the hoop, the foul, or both would be a better bet. With 5 minutes left and the Spartans down, why not full court press? It just seems like the game plan is to dribble down real fast, make long passes to the wings over and over and then shoot something long range and hope for a basket or a re-bound. When will they put together a good inside and outside game to keep the other team’s defense guessing?
Rachel
(02/02/09 10:20pm)Report
I agree with Izzo when he said that the game wasn’t lost on Kalin’s free throw, but when we were up 7 and decided not to guard anyone. After watching Purdue play, I’ve noticed that they pick up their opponent HARD right at half court—something that we fail to do. Our defense around the perimeter is weak, which was evident by the ridiculously deep shots made by Penn State & letting a tired Battle dribble in one spot till his heart’s content. It doesn’t look like Purdue is going to be losing anytime soon with the way that they’ve been playing. If we want to battle for the title, Allen, Summers & Lucious need to step it up and guard the perimeter more aggressively. Walton cannot be the only man bustin’ his butt out there.