Even with people giving him votes of overwhelming confidence based on MSU’s 79-63 victory on Dec. 31, head coach Tom Izzo knows his Spartans (19-3, 8-1) could be bitten by the Nittany Lions.

“This game is very concerning to me,” Izzo said during Tuesday’s press conference. “As I listen to people, I think everyone is going to look at this game and say you beat them by 15 or 17 or whatever you beat them by there.”

Their conference record might be a lowly 3-6, but three of PSU’s conference losses have been by a mere three points or less. The Nittany Lions ended their six-game losing streak by beating Nebraska by four points, Ohio State by one point in overtime and Purdue by 11 points.

Leading PSU in its recent streak is the highest-scoring backcourt in the nation, Tim Frazier and D.J. Newbill.

The duo averages a combined 33.8 points per game, but lately it has been Newbill stealing the show for PSU, with 20 points per game in PSU’s three latest wins.

“They’re both really, really good guards,” junior guard Travis Trice said. “Newbill in the ball screens once he gets you in his hip, he’s really hard to get around because he is so strong. Frazier, he is so quick and good with the ball.”

On the bright side for MSU, the Spartans received what could be the best news this week with senior forward Adreian Payne returning to the court for practice.

After seven games of sitting on the bench wearing a boot on his sprained foot, Payne said the number of minutes he will play all depends on “how ever many my body will let me.”

The last time Payne played was on Jan. 7 during MSU’s 72-68 overtime win over Ohio State, a game that Izzo thought his senior forward would miss as a result of his foot injury. To Izzo’s surprise, Payne said he was good to go and fought through it to play 32 minutes and score 18 points.

However, instead of playing through pain, Izzo said Payne is “going to have to learn how to play through fatigue.”

“I’m not going to try to beat Adreian to death, but … he is a horse worth riding,” Izzo said. “So we are going to ride Adreian a little bit and see what (we) can get out of him within the framework of what our medical people think and what he says.”

Missing freebies

When it comes to winning, MSU is at the top of the Big Ten mountain. However, when it comes to free throws, MSU is looking up at nearly every other team, shooting 68.8 percent — second-worst.

Hoping to turn the tide of his team’s funk, Izzo has been holding early morning free throw shooting sessions.

“You don’t ever want to get drastic with shooting stuff because it becomes mental,” Izzo said.