Sunday is Ward’s first double-double since his 25-point, 10 rebound performance in MSU’s 106-82 win over Florida Gulf Coast last November.

The win mark’s MSU’s 10th in a row, while the Nittany Lions (7-10, 0-6) have lost four straight.

All of Penn State’s 56 points were scored starters, four of which finished in double figures. Lamar Stevens scored a game-high 20 points and went 8-for-18 from the field. Mike Watkins, Josh Reaves and Myles Dread each had 11. 

Freshman Aaron Henry made his first collegiate start and played a career-high 25 minutes. He shot 3-for-6 from the floor with seven points, two boards and three assists and also had one foul and a turnover. 

Henry earned the start from Kyle Ahrens, who’s still considered day-to-day with a back injury. Both have seen increased playing time since Joshua Langford has been out since Dec. 29 with a left ankle ailment.

The Spartans used a 10-0 run spanning nearly five minutes to establish a 20-10 lead. Later in the half, MSU used a 10-2 run to take a 30-16 lead, with scores from Ward, Kenny Goins and Xavier Tillman.

MSU entered halftime with a 40-24 lead.

The Spartans’ largest lead was 21, but Penn State was able to cut the lead to 10 points until back-to-back 3-pointers from Matt McQuaid put the Spartans back up by 16 with 13:11 left. 

Winston played 30 minutes and finished with six assists and four steals, but accounted for seven of MSU’s 17 turnovers, tying a season high set against Texas on Nov. 23. 

In all, MSU converted on 25-of-51 (49.0 percent) shots from the field. The Spartans entered the game with a 50.6 percent field-goal percentage for the season. The Nittany Lions shot 36.7 percent from the field, below their season average of 41.1 percent.

The Spartans are off until Thursday when they travel to play Nebraska (12-4, 2-3). Tipoff at Pinnacle Bank Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m.