" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

Saturday Morning Links

• MSU-Penn State Tickets Available For Sunday
  Just upper bench seats left at this point.
• Game 22: Michigan at Purdue Preview
  1:00 today on CBS.
• MSU might have best recruiting class in state
  I like the sound of that.
• Michigan State’s In-State Recruiting Domination: What It Means For The Big 10
  The Rivalry, Esq. breaks it down.

Penn State Game Preview

Noon Sunday.  The Breslin Center.  BTN.

Penn State is the third team MSU will face twice in the first half of its conference schedule, joining Northwestern and Ohio State.  Two and a half weeks ago, our Spartans escaped Happy Valley with a win by the skin of their chinny chin chins, after nearly blowing a 17-point second-half lead.

Since that game, Penn State has gone out and taken care of business, beating Indiana on the road and Michigan and Iowa at home.  With a conference record of 5-3, the Nittany Lions are now looking for a couple wins against ranked opponents to stake their claim to an NCAA Tournament berth.

Everything that was true about the Lions going into the first match-up continues to be true:

• They can shoot the three.
• They don’t turn the ball over.
• They rebound well on defense (but not so much on offense).
• They don’t create a lot of turnovers.
• They don’t foul a lot.

(Tempo-free profile here.)

The offense revolves around the trio of Talor Battle, Jamelle Cornley, and Stanley Pringle.  Battle and Cornley were simply sensational the first time around, each reaching the 20-point mark.  Both players manage to play with a high level of efficiency and consistency despite generally matching up with players 2-3 inches taller than them.  Travis Walton did a pretty good job on Battle the first time around, but Battle still put up 20 points.  Walton and Lucas will need to play 40 minutes of intense defense in the rematch to avoid letting Battle take the game over for any stretch of time.

Cornley has stepped up his game even further over the last three contests, averaging 19.3 points/game on 65.0% FG shooting.  He may actually be the greater threat in this game, as Goran Suton has been the only compentent MSU post defender of late.  This would be a great game for Delvon Roe to show he can match up with an athletic player in the paint.

Pringle was a nonfactor in the first game, but MSU can’t forget about him.  He’s averaging 14.2 points per game on 50.0% 3-point shooting on the season.

On offense, expect MSU to be much more prepared for Penn State’s 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone looks than they were in the first game, when Penn State caught them off guard by waiting until the second half to deploy the zone defenses–on a rotating basis, no less.  I’d feel a little better about this game if Raymar Morgan were at full health (70% is the latest word), as he and Goran Suton are the two players capable of attacking the middle of the zone against Penn State’s undersized interior players; Morgan scored 17 points on 7-9 FG shooting in the first match-up.  Again, this is a chance for Delvon Roe to contribute.

Beyond that, the guards simply have to recoginze the different defensive schemes, make precise passes, and knock down perimeter shots (we only shot 4-15 on three-pointers in the first game).  Durrell Summers should get some more good 3-point looks.  And Chris Allen will likely get another shot at playing his way out of his recent slump.

Kenpom predicts a 77-65 Spartan win in a 65-possession game.  Given the way Penn State is playing right now, and how hungry they’re going to be coming in, I think a 12-point margin is probably on the high side.  This game represents an opportunity for MSU to reestablish its home court dominance by playing with intelligence and intensity against an emerging, but still less talented, opponent.

Tags: penn state