'Grown up' Michigan State destroys Penn State in Big Ten tournament
WASHINGTON – Michigan State put it all together. For one day, even if it was only for 33 minutes instead of the full 40.
Defense. Rebounding. Scoring. Shooting. Dunking.
Stars creating masterpiece plays. Role players painting the fine details around the edges.
It was an impressive start to an important Big Ten tournament for the Spartans on Thursday afternoon, an overwhelming 78-51 victory over No. 13 seed Penn State at Verizon Center.
“It just shows how much we’ve grown as a team,” freshman point guard Cassius Winston said. “People are feeling their roles and playing their roles, and then play your role to perfection. That’s how teams win championships, that’s how teams win games.”
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And it likely sealed the fifth-seeded Spartans’ 20th straight berth in the NCAA tournament. That won’t be official until Sunday. But MSU (19-13), considered in the 68-team field by most bracket analysts entering this week’s conference tournament, avoided what could have been a costly loss and is headed to the Big Ten quarterfinals for a 20th straight year as well.
“Everybody has to bring their level of play up even more because it’s tournament time,” freshman Joshua Langford said. “It’s one-and-done, so you gotta go out there and give it your all. And as long as, after the game, you can look to yourself in mirror and say you gave it your all, that’s all you can do.”
The Spartans avenged their 72-63 loss to the Nittany Lions from Jan. 7 at the Palestra in Philadelphia. They’ll have a chance to make it three wins this season over No. 4 seed Minnesota on Friday (approximately 2:30 p.m./Big Ten Network).
Now, MSU must quickly flip from hunter to the hunted. Tom Izzo’s young team defeated the Gophers (23-8) both times they played this season, a 75-74 overtimewin to open Big Ten play on Dec. 27 and a 65-47 home win on Jan. 11.
“The first question I get is, ‘You beat a team twice – can you beat them three times?’” Izzo said. “You know, (we) played them so long ago that I forgot what their uniforms look like, and I’m sure they did us. It’s been a long time since we played them. We’re a better team, they’re a lot, lot better team. Nobody can argue, they’re the hottest team in the league.”
Freshmen Miles Bridges, Nick Ward, Langford and Winston combined for 50 points and 23 rebounds as the Spartans also got 30 points from their bench players.
Kenny Goins added eight boards as MSU outrebounded Penn State, 44-29. Matt McQuaid and Kyle Ahrens hit five three-pointers between them to combine for 15 points off the bench for the Spartans, and Tum Tum Nairn chipped in nine assists with no turnovers despite going scoreless.
But it was improvements from freshmen forwards Bridges and Ward, who each finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, that Penn State coach Pat Chambers said made the difference in the two meetings.
“They played much harder than the first time around,” Chambers said. “They’ve grown up a lot. Coach Izzo definitely has left his mark on those two, for sure. They’re competitive.”
Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens each scored 16 for Penn State (15-18), which defeated No. 12 seed Nebraska in overtime Wednesday, 76-67. They were a combined 10-for-33 after making 12-of-22 in the first game with MSU.
Reigning conference tourney champ MSU blasted off an 18-8 opening salvo Thursday, getting all of Ward’s nine first-half points in that stretch as well as four from Langford. The Spartans added to it later in the period with a 12-0 run, then a 9-0 burst to end the half, capped by a midair-spinning-in-traffic dunk by Bridges off a whipped pass from Langford.
The Spartans were up 45-27 at the break, then kept pouring it on in the second half. They used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to extend it to 27 and put any doubts to rest about advancing to Friday – and eventually into the NCAA Tournament.
“This is a great way to start it,” said Langford, who had 13 points and five rebounds, “but we gotta keep surviving and advancing.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.