This marks MSU’s first 10-game win streak since the 2018-19 season, when the Spartans claimed the Big Ten title and reached the Final Four. 

Senior forward Frankie Fidler led MSU with a season-high 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including key baskets down the stretch. Senior guard Jaden Akins also gave the Spartans a second-half boost, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. dished out seven assists. 

"That's what seniors are supposed to do, and (Fidler and Akins) did it," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said postgame. 

Nittany Lions guard Ace Baldwin Jr. returned from a back injury, leading his team with 20 points. Baldwin responded to a quiet first half with 13 of his 20 total points coming in the second. Penn State guard D’Marco Dunn was a handful for MSU, scoring 18 on 4-for-7 shooting from three-point range. 

"Not many times this year have I been disappointed in our defensive performance," Izzo said. "Tonight, I am very disappointed."

On Monday, MSU became the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the AP Top 25 poll, jumping four spots to No. 12 after handling Washington and Northwestern last week. The Spartans now face the grind of a conference schedule packed with quick turnarounds. 

With just under two months of conference play left, the Spartans’ NCAA Tournament resume — and their aspirations for another Big Ten title — are taking shape. They host No. 19 Illinois (13-4, 5-2) on Sunday before playing Rutgers (9-8, 2-4) at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 25. 

Playing Illinois at Breslin on Sunday will be a significant test for MSU’s Big Ten Championship aspirations. The Illini, who crushed Indiana on the road Wednesday night, bring a mix of experience and talent and will test the Spartans’ ability to maintain momentum amidst a conference schedule that only gets tougher down the road. 

Scrappy contest turns to shootout

Penn State entered Wednesday evening averaging 9.4 steals per game, the best figure in the Big Ten. It recorded zero in the first half Wednesday night. Perhaps too eager for their first true road win of the season, Baldwin and company racked up 10 of their 11 first-half fouls in the opening 12 minutes of play.  

The Spartans reached the bonus with 13:24 remaining in the first half. Penn State guard and sixth man Nick Kern Jr., who Izzo called the Nittany Lions’ second-best player behind Baldwin, checked in at the 18-minute mark and was subbed out less than three minutes later after picking up two fouls. He finished the first half with one point, shooting 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. PSU 7-foot forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser also dealt with two fouls for the last nine minutes of the first half. 

MSU excelled at the free-throw line, going 11-for-12 in the first half compared to Penn State’s 6-for-9. Head coach Tom Izzo emphasized turnovers and clean defense as keys to the game.

The fouling slowed down on Penn State’s side and picked up on MSU’s, so an 11-8 foul differential in the first half didn’t tell the whole story. However, MSU turned Penn State over nine times for 19 points the other way while committing just three turnovers. 

The Nittany Lions’ success this season has mostly come from their pressure-heavy defense, relying on turnovers and attacking the rim often. MSU flipped that switch on them in the first half. In the second half, Penn State shot 65% from the field and 67% from three and shot 16 free throws.

The Spartans led 46-36 at the break. Penn State scored eight unanswered points to start the second half, drawing within one possession. MSU was going to need a strong finish. 

It was MSU's third straight game allowing 40 points in the second half. 

"That is a problem," Izzo said.

MSU extended a two-point lead to nine within four minutes, forcing Penn State’s Mike Rhoades to call a timeout. MSU had a cushion, and the Izzone was alive again. 

Ranked 11th nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom, MSU has repeatedly shown it has the tools to hold a nine-point lead, especially at home. Penn State seemed to have an answer for every punch it took down the stretch, but the Spartans closed it out. 

With a four-point lead around the nine-minute mark of the second half, MSU’s sophomore forward Xavier Booker converted a crucial and-one opportunity after forcing a mismatch on the block and finishing through contact. Fears ran the break a minute later and found Akins on the left wing for a wide-open three. The senior swished it, giving MSU a double-digit lead again with eight minutes of basketball remaining. 

"We did enough offensively. It was just defensively. We didn't do enough," Izzo said. "We either fouled or we gave up wide open shots."

Akins drilled another three from a similar location and, in the next possession, grabbed a steal and took it the other way for a  layup. 

MSU carried a slim four-point lead with 30 seconds left, and Akins came through one more time, taking matters into his own hands late in the shot clock with a driving layup plus a foul. He made the free throw to put the Spartans up seven points.  

Akins, Izzo’s talisman this season, was there when his team needed it most.

MSU will host the Fighting Illini on Sunday, Jan. 19 at noon on CBS.