3 Observations from Michigan State's Tight Win over Penn State
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Road victories in the Big Ten are usually results to be savored.
No. 9 Michigan State certainly did not have its best performance Saturday afternoon against Penn State. However, the Spartans still found a way to improve to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play with a 76-72 win. MSU definitely needs to get better once the full weight of the Big Ten schedule begins following New Year’s, but this is a game where some lessons were learned.
Here are a few things I noticed from the Spartans’ victory over the Nittany Lions:
Ugochukwu Saves the Day
It's low-hanging fruit, but Divine Ugochukwu was… divine. The sophomore transfer from Miami (FL) was the difference between a win and a loss, scoring a career-high 23 points. He shot 8-for-10 from the field, 5-for-5 from three, and hit a pair of clutch free throws at the end that iced the game.
Ugochukwu entered Saturday’s game averaging just 3.9 points per game. He had a 16-point outburst, but that was against lowly East Carolina (currently 3-7). Outdoing that against a conference foe is something else entirely.
This also came in Ugochukwu’s first start of the season, as head coach Tom Izzo gave him a longer look at the two-guard spot. Headed into a lighter stretch on the schedule of Toledo, Oakland, and Cornell, it might be wise for Izzo to go with the hot hand.
What also cannot be ignored is the development of Ugochukwu as a shooter. He’s now 11-for-21 from three on the year, or 52.4%. Across the entirety of last season at Miami, he went 6-for-34 (17.6%). Someone who can hit those threes is exactly what MSU is looking for there.
Turnovers Costly
One reason Penn State’s upset bid became serious at the end was the turnover differential. Michigan State entered averaging 10.9 turnovers per game, which is pretty normal for a Big Ten team.
The Nittany Lions forced an MSU turnover on about a quarter of the Spartans’ possessions: 17 times total, the most for Michigan State this season. Points off turnovers is not a tremendous stat in basketball, but it means a little something when that statistic leans 23-4 in PSU’s direction.
Partially as a result of the minus-8 turnover differential, Penn State ended up attempting 14 more shot attempts than the Spartans did.
That’s not the type of basketball that will fly against better teams. MSU was definitely a little lucky to get the win here.
Missed Layups
I feel a little bad making two of my three observations about Michigan State be negative following a victory, but that’s the expectation this team deserves to be held to after allowing an inferior opponent to nearly win.
Michigan State needs to be better at the rim. It left points on the table against Duke with missed layups and did so again against the Nittany Lions, going just 6-for-18 on layups. Senior center Carson Cooper especially must be better in this area; he went just 1-for-6 on layups on Saturday.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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