Senior forward Raymar Morgan goes up for a layup against Penn State. Morgan was fouled on the play by Nittany Lions guard Bill Edwards, giving Morgan the opportunity to make the two free thows for a four-point lead late in the second half Thursday night at Breslin Center.
In its last two home games — both losses — the MSU men’s basketball team has drowned playing catch-up, poking its head above water to lead briefly before dying in the end.
On Thursday, the Spartans were on the opposite end of that buoy, beating Penn State 67-65.
No. 11 MSU (23-7 overall, 13-4 Big Ten) amassed multiple double-digit leads against the second-to-last-place Nittany Lions (11-18, 3-14) on Thursday night at Breslin Center before surrendering a one-basket lead in the last five minutes.
Clutch free throws, veteran leadership and some home-crowd energy finally all came together, though, as the Spartans gritted out the victory.
The win kept the Spartans from their first home three-game losing streak since 1997 and inched them one step closer to consecutive Big Ten titles.
“We turned it over a couple times or gave them the ball and told them to go down and make a layup,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
“College basketball isn’t a charity event.
“We just didn’t seem to respect, maybe, the game. … We’re not very happy with the way we played. In fact, I’m flat- out embarrassed.”
Sophomore forward Draymond Green was electric off the bench for MSU on his 20th birthday, going for 14 points and nine rebounds. His two-handed slam with 2:15 to go tied the game 62-62 and the Spartans never trailed again.
Senior forward Raymar Morgan, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, knocked down two free throws with 1:24 to go, giving MSU its final lead of the game.
Penn State forward David Jackson missed a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left that would have given the Nittany Lions the lead and Morgan again iced it with two more free throws.
The 16 points make Morgan the fifth player in MSU basketball history to record 1,500 points and 700 rebounds.
“I’m comfortable,” Morgan said.
“Just trying to let the game come to me and stay aggressive. You have to, being a senior and just playing here for a couple of my last games here.”
Penn State guards Talor Battle and Chris Babb led the visitors with 16 a piece in the losing effort as Penn State shot 59 percent from the field in the second half.
The Spartans went into the break leading 32-25, but by the 13:25 mark of the second half, the Nittany Lions had tied the game 44-44.
“It’s been a very tough year for us and this is kind of the way games have gone,” Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis said.
“But our kids have always fought and played hard and tried to do the things we’ve asked them to do. That’s our season.”
The Spartans recovered during a media timeout and came out to take back the 10-point advantage on a 3-pointer from Summers with 9:28 to go but Penn State climbed back to take the short-lived lead.
Junior guard Kalin Lucas and Morgan combined to go, 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
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The Spartans will look to wrap up a share of the regular season Big Ten title with Senior Day on Sunday when Michigan comes to Breslin Center (4 p.m. CBS).
After the “embarrassing” performance, a noticeably peeved and determined Izzo said he wished he could call every former player to, in a sense, apologize.
“We’re going to play better on Sunday,” Izzo said.
“We’re going to find a way to win with somebody.”
