Michigan State Basketball: 3 observations from tight win over Penn State

1. This team just can’t keep the foot on the gas

Michigan State got off to a decent start while not being able to shoot the ball all that well. It had the feel of the Purdue game about a month ago, extending a first-half lead to double-digits before going into halftime with all the momentum.

The Spartans came out of the locker room and extended that lead to 12 and looked like they were going to just run Penn State out of the gym like they should.

And then they took their foot off the gas.

Guys started making lazy passes, taking selfish shots, missing open looks, giving up space on defense and losing the rebounding battle. They were doing what they have been all season which had led to their disappointing 3-7 start to Big Ten play. They looked like they were uninterested despite growing a comfortable lead.

Penn State took advantage.

The Nittany Lions even took a four-point lead with just minutes remaining before Michigan State ended the game on a 6-0 run to win by two. It wasn’t easy.

This team just can’t seem to put anyone away and that goes all the way back to non-conference play. They had big leads against Duke and Notre Dame but allowed both to make it interesting and the same went for Eastern Michigan and Oakland. And then the Nebraska road win was closer than it should have been, the Purdue loss happened after building a 17-point second-half lead and both the past two games should have been blowouts but the Spartans let teams hang around.

Maybe that just won’t ever be fixed this year.