The Nittany Lions, a 59 percent free-throw shooting team entering the game, banged in its final 20-of-26 shots from the charity stripe to defeat MSU 85-76 at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

The No. 8 Spartans (19-3 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) were plagued by 31 foul calls on the night — as junior forward Marquise Gray, sophomore forward Raymar Morgan, junior center Goran Suton and junior guard Travis Walton all fouled out in the final four minutes.

“This is a very disappointing loss for us,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “I didn’t think it was very well officiated. I can say that — I didn’t like some of the calls.”

This is Penn State’s first victory against the Green and White since March 9, 2001.

But Izzo knew it wasn’t all his team’s fault.

He gave Nittany Lions’ head coach Ed DeChellis the respect he deserved — especially because of their clutch shooting down the stretch.

Penn State’s (10-11, 3-6) greatest weakness — free-throw shooting — seemed to be the team’s best attribute in the second half.

“We’ve had some crazy things happen,” DeChellis said. “But our kids hung in there and fought and made some free throws that they had to.”

The Nittany Lions’ Stanley Pringle finished with a career and game-high 19 points while Talor Battle dropped 17 of his own.

For the Spartans, freshman guard Kalin Lucas led the way with 18 points and seven assists.

But although he found ways to score, he couldn’t contain Penn State’s guards defensively.

“This isn’t football,” Izzo said. “In football, you have an offensive and a defensive side of the game. In basketball, you have to play both sides. When a guy eats you up on one side and you get a couple baskets, it doesn’t do a lot for you.”

MSU had just 10 turnovers, yet failed to outrebound (31-31) the Nittany Lions — an aspect of the game the Spartans normally excel in.

“We didn’t do anything differently,” Penn State’s Jamelle Cornley said. “We used the same scheme we usually do. It just shows what kind of team that we are.”

The Spartans found themselves down by as many as 10 points early in the second half thanks to a 23-7 Nittany Lions run.

It wasn’t until a balanced scoring attack and a 17-5 MSU run lasting roughly six minutes that the Spartans found themselves back in the game leading 60-58.

The squads would then battle back and forth for much of the game.

That is, until Penn State started to separate itself with superb free-throw shooting.

Neither team could pull away from their opponent in the first half — finishing with six lead changes and 12 separate tied scores.

But with 33 seconds remaining in the half, Penn State’s Danny Morrissey banged in a 3-pointer from the left elbow to put his team up 42-39 — as he kept his shooting arm raised and Bryce Jordan Center erupted with applause.

Senior guard Drew Neitzel finished the game with just six points on 2-for-10 shooting and immediately put the blame on himself.

“This is my fault,” he said. “It’s upperclassmen leaders — we gotta make shots and make plays and I didn’t do that tonight.”

Neitzel summed it up just like Izzo normally does — if an underdog is going to prevail, two aspects of the game will flourish.

“We put them on the free-throw line a lot and gave up some (3-pointers),” Neitzel said. “That’s how upsets usually happen. We didn’t execute at all.”

MSU continues play against Northwestern at 7 p.m. Saturday at Breslin Center, where the Spartans are undefeated this season.