Michigan State Basketball: Penn State will be no cakewalk for Spartans

While many may be overlooking this game in Happy Valley, Penn State is not a cakewalk for Michigan State basketball on Sunday evening.

Tom Izzo may not show it, or talk about it, but he’s a happy man these days. His Michigan State team is 14-2 with a 5-0 start to Big Ten play and it looks much more cohesive and even tougher than last year’s conference title-winning Spartans — if you can believe that.

This year’s team has won tough games on the road and beaten rising teams like Texas, Iowa, Ohio State and Florida. There are no true elite wins yet, but the Spartans just remain consistent and beat who they are supposed to — you can bet they’d like to have those losses against Kansas and Louisville back.

Michigan State is playing as well as anyone in the nation right now, but that doesn’t mean Sunday evening’s battle against Penn State (7-9, 0-5) will be a cakewalk.

Don’t let that record fool you, Pat Chambers and the Nittany Lions have plenty of talent like Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins, but they haven’t put it all together yet. At some point this season, this team is going to click and look like the team that ran through the NIT last year to win the title over Utah. This game will be much trickier than people think.

Here’s how you can watch Sunday evening’s Michigan State vs. Penn State game:

Date: Sunday, Jan. 13
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Location: University Park, Penn.
Venue: Bryce Jordan Center
TV: CBS
Live Stream: CBS Sports Live or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

In order for the Spartans to improve to 6-0 in conference play, they must dominate the glass on both ends of the floor. We saw against Purdue that when this team surrenders too many offensive rebounds, there will be a plethora of second-chance points to be had. If the Spartans can keep the aggressive Nittany Lions off the glass and snag some offensive boards of their own, this could be a runaway win. If not, expect a close fight.

Also, the Nittany Lions aren’t exactly known for scoring, outside of Lamar Stevens who averages more than 25 percent of their points, but if they can slow him down and keep him in check like they did with Carsen Edwards, the Spartans will be in great shape. Matt McQuaid may not be guarding Stevens, but it’ll be up to guys like Kenny Goins, Xavier Tillman and Nick Ward, depending on who Izzo feels comfortable placing on the 6-8 forward. The Spartans need to win this matchup.

Players to Watch

Penn State isn’t exactly loaded with stars like some other teams in the conference, but the Nittany Lions’ top player is scary. In any other season, he could be contending for Big Ten Player of the Year, but with the Nittany Lions posting a sub-.500 record, don’t expect that to happen. Also, this team’s offense has been awful this year, averaging just 67 points per game, shooting 41 percent from the floor and 31 percent from 3-point range.

• Lamar Stevens: 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 42% FG
• Rasir Bolton: 12.6 points, 38% 3-point
• Josh Reaves: 10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.4 steals, 43% FG
• Mike Watkins: 7.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 59% FG

Prediction

It’s been a rough year for Penn State and that will only continue against the Spartans. No, it won’t be a completely ugly performance for the Nittany Lions as they will jockey back and forth for the lead in the first half with the Spartans, but Michigan State will pull away late like it has been known to do this year. Cassius Winston will have another elite game, scoring 25 with 10 assists while Nick Ward, Xavier Tillman and Matt McQuaid all score in double figures.

Final Score: Michigan State 78, Penn State 67