Penn State Basketball takes their 4-game winning streak to East Lansing to do battle with the Spartans. Michigan State returns home after losing at Wisconsin.
Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Michigan
When : Tuesday, February 4th at 8 pm. Television channel: Big Ten Network
Penn State (16-5, 6-4), jumped from #24 to #22 in the latest edition of the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Lions are riding a four-game winning streak that breaks down into two wins on the road and two wins at home. Penn State dispatched Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and Nebraska and they are looking to carry their momentum into East Lansing.
The #16 Michigan State Spartans (16-6, 8-3), return to the Breslin Center licking their wounds from a 63-64 loss to the Badgers. The loss dropped them from #14 to #16 in the Associated Press poll. The Spartans are 3-3 over the last six games with all three losses coming on the road. Michigan State was 6-2 in Big Ten play during the month of January and the loss at the Kohl Center wasn’t how they wanted to start out in February. They now get an opportunity to enjoy some home cooking and serve the visiting Nittany Lions a hostile Breslin Center crowd.
When I reviewed the stat sheets on Michigan State, one item really jumped out at me. That item is free-throw attempts. In the Wisconsin game, Michigan State had four free-throw attempts to the Badgers fifteen. The Badgers were +9 in free-throws made and they won the game by a single point. I have to believe that if the Spartans were able to get to the line more, the outcome would have been different.
I reviewed the stat sheet for Michigan State’s other losses and combined the numbers. Michigan State is 17-24 from the free-throw line while their opponent is 34-53. The Spartans are getting doubled up at the charity stripe when they lose. The box scores for the three wins during this last stretch of six games show the Spartans attempting 37 free-throws compared to their opponents 41. Michigan State is still getting to the free-throw line less often when they win but the disparity isn’t as great.
Penn State is second in the conference for scoring offense behind Iowa and is barely in front of Sparty. The Lions are averaging 76.9 points per game and thrive in an up-tempo game where they rely on their league-leading steals and blocks margin to fuel their transition offense. This is the type of team that Head Coach Pat Chambers has envisioned for Penn State. As an assistant at Villanova, he had first-hand access to the template Head Coach Jay Wright put into place.
With the addition of Curtis Jones, Jr. to the deepest bench in Penn State’s recent history, he has the horses to run his preferred style of play. The senior transfer from Oklahoma State has anchored the second unit over the four-game winning streak providing timely scoring and leadership for the Nittany lions.
Tune in to the Big Ten Network at 8 pm Tuesday evening to see who comes out on top in this contest. Michigan State will be trying to solidify their grip on another Big Ten regular-season championship, while Penn State tries to claw their way into the upper tier of Big Ten teams. I’m not picking this one. I don’t want to jinx it.