As has been the story the last few games for Michigan State, the Spartans were able to get out to an early lead against Penn State, with most of their inflicted damage coming from three point range.

Threes by Jaxon Kohler, Jaden Akins, and Tre Holloman helped the Spartans race out to an 11-6 lead at the first media timeout. After a few defensive lapses, the bench for Michigan State came in and contributed in a variety of ways. Drives and finishes by Coen Carr and Jase Richardson saw the Michigan State lead grow to seven with 12 minutes left in the first half.

Penn State prides themselves on forcing turnovers and playing fast. The Spartans not only did not feed into the Penn State style early, but they were actually the team who were forcing turnovers and turning them into points.

At the under-eight minute media timeout, Penn State had turned the ball over seven times which led to 13 points for the Spartans, and a 31-20 lead. With their backs against the wall in the first half, the Nittany Lions made an adjustment by going zone; this approach led to some offensive confusion and bad shots from the Spartans.

Penn State capitalized on these bad shots and cut the lead to five with just under six minutes to go. From that point on, the Spartans settled in and went on a 7-0 run and took a 46-36 lead into halftime. At that point, the Spartans were led by Coen Carr who scored nine points off the bench. Ten different Spartans scored in the first half for the second game in a row, all while only turning the ball over three times.

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, hockey, and recruiting coverage, not to mention our non-revenue sports coverage and subscriber exclusive forum. Sign up with Spartans Illustrated now!

Early in the second half it was evident that the Nittany Lions were not going to go quietly in this game. The Nittany Lions went on a 8-0 run to cut lead to two, 46-44, early in the second half. As the Nittany Lions did in the first half, they utilized a zone for much of the second half.

This zone caused some uncharacteristic bad shots and also some bad turnovers. Even with those issues, the Spartans were able to make mini-runs and kept the lead between 4-10 points for most of the second half. With many Spartans struggling with the zone, one Spartan stepped up massively in the second half: Frankie Fidler.

Whether it was working on the offensive glass or driving the ball to score, Fidler was Michigan State's best player for most of the second half. Fidler had his best game as a Spartan, pouring in 18 points while grabbing seven rebounds and adding four steals.

After a late Penn State push, the Spartans were able to make enough baskets and free throws to come away with a 90-85 victory.

The Spartans improve to 15-2 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten conference with a big matchup looming Sunday with the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Join the discussion on this article in our premium forums by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, Instagram, and Bluesky.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar and WE GOT IT podcasts, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.