3. MSU may have gotten caught looking ahead
Honestly, this relates to the first takeaways a little: the Spartans may have gotten caught looking ahead to Sunday's contest against Illinois.
The Spartans weren't exactly "sloppy" as they turned it over 10 times and it's hard to say the effort wasn't there becayse they had eight steals and five blocks while scoring 90 points, but the defensive performance was one of their worst of the season, allowing Penn State to score 85 and shooting 42 percent from 3-point range.
It was an ugly game for Michigan State.
Tom Izzo said before halftime that he wasn't pleased with his team's performance and it was going to "be a fun halftime" when he walked into the locker room but yet the team came out flat in the second half, allowing an 8-0 run as Penn State pulled within two. Michigan State would never surrender the lead, but it felt like the Spartans were playing tight instead of their normal looseness.
This team may have gotten caught looking ahead and fortunately it didn't bite them against a very pesky Penn State team -- one that was even shorthanded.