Junior guard Denzel Valentine, 45, talks with junior forward Matt Costello during the game against Maryland on Dec. 30, 2014, at Breslin Center. The Spartans were defeated by the Terrapins, 68-66 in double overtime. Danyelle Morrow/The State News
MSU will try to get back to winning, and with a Wednesday night matchup against Penn State looming, the Spartans should have a great chance to do so.
Penn State (12-6 overall, 0-5 Big Ten) won 12 of its first 13 games, but since entering Big Ten play, the Nittany Lions have dropped five straight.
Head coach Tom Izzo said the game will begin an important stretch for MSU (12-6 overall, 3-2 Big Ten), and Penn State is not to be overlooked.
“A team that you all will think isn’t that good and understandably so if you look at their record,” Izzo said. “If you look through that or watch their games and see the number of games they lead in. Its 35-33 at Wisconsin and all of sudden they are down 10 at Wisconsin.”
Senior guard D.J. Newbill leads the Big Ten with 21.7 points per game, and Izzo called him the best scorer in the conference. Penn State’s roster is veteran heavy, playing with five seniors and four juniors.
“They’ve got a pretty deep team and definitely an experienced starting five,” Izzo said. “One that a couple of bad shots here or there or missed shots has been the difference when you’re losing at least three of those five Big Ten games. That will be a challenge because they will be hungry.”
MSU will hope to get senior guard Travis Trice more involved, after he scored just five points in his last outing against Maryland. Junior guard Denzel Valentine was also contained, finishing with nine points. The Terrapins minimized production from two of MSU’s most important offensive threats, but if Penn State tries to replicate that performance, Izzo isn’t worried.
“Every team in America is going to try and shut down the two or three best players,” Izzo said. “That's no secret, we try to do the same thing.”
Offensively, MSU and Penn State are on different ends of the spectrum. Penn State features a 20 point scorer, but no one else on the team averages double digits. The Nittany Lions also rank 323rd in the nation and last in the Big Ten with just 10.1 assists per game.
MSU has three players averaging double figure points, and with 18.0 assists per game, the Spartans rank third in the nation and first in the Big Ten.
Wednesday night’s 7 p.m contest will mark the 400th men’s basketball game at Breslin Center, a number that Izzo has been a part of since the arena opened in 1989.
“We've had still one of the best home courts there is,” Izzo said. “But it has it's moments when it goes up and down a little bit, probably some of that's with the team, some of that's not. But it's been a great place to play. I still love the fact that the fans are right on top of you, where a lot of these places it's not that way.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
