So no one could be surprised when he began to catch fire in Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal game, scoring a game-high 25 points.

But it was another player, guard Tim Frazier, who made the biggest difference in MSU’s 61-48 loss to Penn State at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Frazier scored 22 points, had six assists and grabbed eight rebounds in a career night. It was a complete turnaround from the last time the teams met. Frazier was scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting in MSU’s 75-57 victory at Breslin Center on Feb. 10.

“That was the difference,” MSU senior guard Kalin Lucas said. “He definitely had a good game. He was attacking, hitting 3s, doing stuff that we really havn’t seen him do, knocking down 3s and shots like that.”

It was the third game in three days for the Spartans (19-14), same for the Nittany Lions (19-13), the No. 7 and No. 6 seeds in the tournament, respectively.

Lucas continued to play on a sprained ankle he suffered Thursday.

Although Lucas did lead MSU with 16 points, MSU head coach Tom Izzo said the physical fatigue did get to his point guard, which was a part of his five turnovers – his most since Dec. 11, 2010 against Oakland.

As for the rest of the players, it wasn’t the physical fatigue that got them.

“I think we hit a wall. Maybe not physically, but just mentally,” junior forward Delvon Roe said. “There were a lot of dumb mistakes today. You put so much energy as we put into last night, to come out here and play a team that had just as much on the line as we had, we didn’t have it.”

For the third consecutive game, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead at 14-4, seeming to not have that physical fatigue that was feared.

But behind four first-half 3-point field goals, the Nittany Lions roared back to take a three-point lead before the teams went into the locker room at halftime tied at 26.

After three points from Lucas gave MSU a 29-28 lead with 18:15 to play, the Talor Battle Show took off. Battle hit four straight 3-pointers as part of a 21-6 run to open up a 49-35 lead on the Spartans, who lost all their energy.

“It takes the wind out of your sails when you’re chasing somebody at full speed and he pulls up and it’s three more points,” senior guard Mike Kebler said. “It’s tough on your psyche.”

The Spartans wouldn’t cut the lead back to single digits as Penn State came away with their third straight victory, hoping to cement their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“I mean, what else do you want us to do? … We’ve done the things that we needed to do,” Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis said of his team’s tournament chances. “You know, we’re going to play hard tomorrow and see what happens, but whatever happens, we need to be in the tournament.”

The Nittany Lions shot 42 percent for the game, while MSU shot just 32.1 percent. Penn State also won the rebounding battle, 38-32.

For the Spartans, they will be in the NCAA Tournament by all accounts. There also appears to be a good chance they miss out on the First Four, giving them time to rest.

Although they didn’t accomplish their stated goal of winning the Big Ten Tournament, they likely have locked up their 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance despite a disappointing season and have a chance to rest before pursuing their ultimate goal.

“You know, I’m saddened that we put ourselves in a position where you’re not going to know anything until (the bracket) comes out,” Izzo said. “But that blame goes to nobody but us, and we’re going to have to shoulder that. Do I think we could play well in it? Probably yeah.”

To read more from the Big Ten Tournament, check out the men’s basketball blog.

To watch a video on the final thoughts from the loss, click here.