Still, thanks to a strong showing from his supporting cast, Battle and the Nittany Lions (9-6 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) were clinging to a 63-62 lead against the favored Spartans (10-5, 2-1).

And despite his shooting woes, Battle did what any superstar would do: He demanded that he get a chance to finish off MSU.

“He said to me in the timeout, ‘Give me the ball,’” Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis told Big Ten Network after the game. “I said, ‘OK, but you got to make a shot for us.’”

The high-scoring Battle did just that.

After missing 11 of his first 13 field goal attempts, Battle’s 14th shot — a pull-up jumper from the right side — found the bottom of the net and helped seal the Nittany Lion’s 66-62 upset win over MSU.

A dejected Spartans head coach Tom Izzo told the Spartan Sports Network after the game that after two wins to start the Big Ten season and a good few days of practice, there was no indication that his team would come out flat and fall to a Penn State team picked to finish near the bottom of the conference.

“It’s one of the more disappointing losses, because I felt so good about how we had been practicing,” Izzo said. “But it’s just another lesson to learn.”

In the same building where then-No. 7 MSU fell to an unranked Nittany Lions team two years ago, Penn State showed early that it was poised for a repeat performance Saturday.

Fighting back and forth with the Spartans for the first 10 minutes of the game, the Nittany Lions scrapped their way to a 20-16 lead with almost nine minutes to play in the half.

Penn State built that lead despite just two points — a pair of free throws — for Battle, who finished the game with 13 points.

“You can’t ask for much more than that,” Izzo said of his team’s defense on Battle. “The guy that hurt us was (forward Jeff Brooks).”

Brooks was the star of the first half for the Nittany Lions, scoring 10 points in the first stanza, eventually finishing the game with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

However, after Brooks and Penn State took a four-point lead midway through the first half, MSU went on a 13-3 run during the next five minutes to take a 29-23 lead, the biggest of the game for either team.

Penn State responded, though, with six quick points to tie the game at 29 with about two minutes to play in the first half.

But with the teams tied at 31, senior guard Durrell Summers scored five consecutive points to close out the half and give MSU a 36-31 at the break.

Summers finished the first 20 minutes with 14 points, including three 3-pointers.

In the second half, Summers picked up right where he left off in the first, scoring the first four points of the half for MSU.

But much like the first half, the Nittany Lions refused to go away, even without Battle scoring for the first 15:40 of the half.

Instead, Penn State was led by Brooks and fellow forwards Andrew Jones and David Jackson.

Nittany Lions guard Jermaine Marshall also chipped in with seven straight points off the bench, as Penn State took a 58-55 lead with almost five minutes to play.

Meanwhile, after his hot finish to the first and start to the second half, Summers struggled from the field and the free throw line.

Summers was held scoreless for almost 15 minutes, until — with 5:25 to play — he slammed home a missed free throw by junior forward Delvon Roe to make the score 58-57 in favor of Penn State.

The two teams went back and forth for the next four minutes, and with less than one minute to play, Summers went to the line with a chance to tie the game at 63.

After making just one, though, the Nittany Lions got the ball back, and DeChellis called the timeout in which Battle asked for the ball.

“That’s what he does,” DeChellis said of Battle’s dagger that helped put the Spartans away.

Along with being unable to contain Penn State’s role players, Izzo said his team was doomed by poor free throw shooting and rebounding.

“We go 10-for-20 from the line, you just can’t do that on the road,” Izzo said “(And) other than (sophomore center Derrick Nix), nobody rebounded the ball very well.”

In limited time, Nix brought in five rebounds for the Spartans, who were outrebounded, 35-31, by the Nittany Lions.

Junior forward Draymond Green brought in 10 rebounds, but scored only five points on 2-for-10 shooting.

Summers led all scorers with 21 points.

After two straight road games, MSU returns home Tuesday to take on Wisconsin at 7 p.m., and Izzo said his players have to put this loss behind them as soon as possible.

“Nothing you can do about it,” he said. “Just have to keep going and play another game.”