State College, Pa. - The Spartans are honoring a creed handed down from generation to generation: sharing.
Against Penn State, nearly every Spartans shot was prefaced with pass. When the final buzzer sounded and the scoreboard's orange lights signaled a 67-42 MSU victory, the Spartans ended the game with nearly an assist per basket.
"That speaks for itself," said junior guard Kelvin Torbert on the Spartans' 23 assists in 28 field goals. "That's unselfish play, not just for one person, but for everybody. Everybody is making that extra pass.
"That's been the story of this team, that's why we're becoming so much better. We've got a lot of guys that can score, but those game guys are unselfish."
MSU's 23 assists were a season high, topping the Spartans' 21 against DePaul in late November. Eight different Spartans (17-9 overall, 12-3 Big Ten) were credited with an assist.
Junior swingman Alan Anderson and sophomore center Paul Davis led the way with six apiece, while junior guard Chris Hill added five.
As the point guard duo, Anderson and Hill know they're expected to set other players up, and Davis surprised not only the Nittany Lions (9-16, 3-11), but his teammates.
On MSU's first five baskets, which gave the Spartans an early 13-3 lead, Davis had four assists.
"It's what's going to win us a championship - being unselfish and knocking down shots," Davis said. "We wanted to get it inside then get it out, find the shooters. They were zoning us all game, so we had to do something with it."
Getting the ball in the post and then kicking it back out is something the Spartans almost have mastered. Compared to early in the season, which saw the Spartans struggling just to get the ball to their big men down low, let alone have their big guys kick it back out, MSU looks extremely comfortable passing the ball to any area of the floor.
A repeated scene Saturday went like this: Anderson would dribble the ball up the floor, pass to another Spartan on the wing. That player would pass it back to the top of the key and the recipient of that pass would kick it to Davis in the post. As quickly as Davis caught the ball and Penn State defenders collapsed on him, Davis kicked the ball out to a wide-open teammate on the baseline.
One problem the Spartans don't want to run into is being too pass-happy. Senior center Jason Andreas said he felt like he was watching a passing exhibition at some points during the game. Still, he said, it's better to be too unselfish than selfish.
"It's one of our goals to try and get as many assists as baskets, but that's almost impossible," Andreas said. "Any time you get your assists up there with your number of baskets, it's going to be a great day for you."
MSU head coach Tom Izzo said it wasn't a great day because his team didn't play the full 40 minutes. Toward the end of the first half and in the beginning of the second, the Spartans seemed to be playing in neutral. It just so happened Penn State was fluctuating between neutral and reverse.
"Give our kids credit. Any time you can have 23 assists out of 28 field goals, that means you have an unselfish team and one that shares the ball," Izzo said. "That is what I'm most proud of in this team's effort. Just about all of our shots were assist-related, and you have to feel good about that."
Of course, the Spartans also are pleased that most of their passes aren't going to waste. For the 12th time in 15 games, MSU shot more than 50 percent from the field.
Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis said future MSU opponents should beware of the Spartans' explosive offense.
While the Spartans are known for their hard-nosed defense, it's their effectiveness on offense that made DeChellis call MSU's shooting "frightening."
"They are really passing the ball, sharing the ball," DeChellis said. "It's not like there is one guy you can concentrate on. They are delivering the ball, making good passes and playing really, really unselfish."
