The break didn’t make him any less gun-shy. He hit a jumper his first trip down the floor, missed a three-pointer the next time down, then got a one-handed put back.

After Payne made his first shot, MSU went on a 13-4 run to push the lead to 14 points.

Payne finished the half with ten points and two rebounds.

The Spartans were without senior guard Keith Appling, who missed the first game of his MSU career with a sore wrist.

Sophomore guard Denzel Valentine and junior guard Travis Trice both stepped up early and filled the hole left by the talented senior.

Valentine scored nine points and and grabbed seven rebounds, while Trice dished out five assists.

Sophomore Gary Harris didn’t score his first points until fourteen minutes in. He missed his first four shots of the game before connecting on a three after a nice pass from Valentine.

Penn State stayed close as the half went on by going on a 11-3 run and hitting 8-of-10 at the free throw line.

Valentine gave the Spartans momentum back when he hit a three-pointer then got a steal on the defensive end.

Trice found sophomore Matt Costello for a dunk to give Breslin Center some life headed into the locker room.

Redshirt freshman Kenny Kaminski was again hot from behind the arc, going 2-of-2 from three point land while also having a good game on the boards grabbing two rebounds.

Tim Frazier and DJ Newbill were the only Nittany Lions to get it going offensively, scoring 24 of the 30 first half points for Penn St.