No. 12 Michigan State has gotten off to fast starts in its last two Big Ten games. Coach Tom Izzo would like to see a better finish when his team hosts Penn State on Wednesday in East Lansing, Mich.
The Spartans (14-2, 5-0 Big Ten) have won nine straight, keeping pace with archrival Michigan atop the conference standings.
They have been taking care of business early. In a home game against Washington on Thursday, they led by 29 at halftime en route to an 88-54 win. They led by 23 in the first half and 19 at halftime at Northwestern on Sunday while claiming a 78-68 victory.
Izzo was unhappy with the team’s sloppy performance down the stretch, including turnovers and missed free throws. The Wildcats pulled within eight points late.
“It doesn’t make me feel good. You want to finish strong,” Izzo said. “I mean, finishing games is a big key. And I did not like the way we finished. But I really was impressed by maybe the first 20-some minutes, I really was. And I don’t get impressed easy.”
Guard Jaden Akins had 14 points and passed the 1,000-point mark for his career. He acknowledged that the finish was unacceptable.
“We just got lazy and lost focus in the second half, which we can’t really do,” he said.
Michigan State’s streak has been fueled by superior depth. The Spartans don’t experience a drop-off when they go to their bench, unlike most other teams.
Izzo has been using a 10-man rotation and every player has stepped forward throughout the course of the season. Akins is the only player averaging double figures at 14.1 points per game. The rest of the group is averaging from 9.7 points to 4.6 points. The Spartans are also outrebounding opponents by an average of 41.1 to 30.4 per game.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins said fast pace and rebounding are what Michigan State is known for, “and this team is back to kind of vintage Michigan State in those two areas.”
Penn State (12-5, 2-4) has lost three straight conference games, including a heartbreaker Sunday against visiting Oregon, 82-81.
Penn State had a six-point lead with less than four minutes left, then got outscored 14-7 the rest of the way.
Like the Spartans, the Nittany Lions want to finish better. But in their case, it’s the difference between winning and losing.
“I take pride in how we finish games, close games especially. That’s a 60-minute game. I need to help our guys more,” coach Mike Rhoades said. “I choked. We choked as a team. You’ve got to win those games, man. You’ve got to find a way to win. But as proud as I am of my guys (Sunday), that was an awesome college basketball game, I’m just really (ticked) that we lost. I didn’t come here to lose.”
Penn State nearly pulled off the upset without its floor leader. Ace Baldwin Jr. (13.9 points, 8.0 assists) missed the game with a back injury. His status for Wednesday’s game is unknown.
The Nittany Lions have five other players averaging double figures, topped by Nick Kern Jr. (12.7). Penn State averages 84.4 ppg, fifth in the Big Ten.
–Field Level Media
