Michigan State basketball: 3 keys to beating Penn State

Michigan State basketball hosts Penn State on Thursday night and here’s what it needs to do to pick up its first Big Ten win.

Michigan State basketball is back in action Thursday night as Penn State comes to town. To put it lightly, Penn State is one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season, but that doesn’t mean we can overlook them.

Here are three keys for MSU if they want to win their first Big Ten game of the season.

1. Contain Kanye Clary

Sophomore guard Kanye Clary is having a remarkable season so far for Penn State. He is one of two players averaging double-digit points this season for the Nittany Lions at 18.2 points per game. He also will be on the court a lot as he is averaging over 30 minutes per game as well.

MSU will have to key in defensively on Clary, as he can really get hot. He is an extremely efficient shooter at 50.8% from the field, 36.7% from three, and 81.4% from the free throw line.

Clary is their primary ball handler, so I expect a lot of different Spartans will get a chance to guard him. AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker, and Jaden Akins are all good defenders, so I anticipate Tom Izzo throwing all three of them at Clary throughout the game. Kanye has to have a great game for Penn State to have a chance at winning, so that’s why containing him has to be our top priority.

2. Rebounding and free throws

Two easy ways to let any underdog keep a game close is by poor rebounding and free throw shooting. Rebounding hasn’t been a strong suit for MSU this season, but that has been changing recently. They are averaging around a +2 rebounding margin this season but are coming off a +14 performance against Indiana State.

MSU also had a phenomenal free throw shooting night against the Sycamores, going 23-for-27 as a team. These are two main reasons why we pulled away late like we did against Indiana State.

If the Spartans want to avoid an upset, they need to do well in these areas again. They probably don’t need to do as well as they did against Indiana State, but if they lose the rebounding battle and shoot under 70 percent from the free throw line, the Spartans could be in trouble.

3. Breslin Center needs to bring the energy

I’m going to include something a little different for my last key. With students still out on Christmas break, games sometimes can be a little quieter without the Izzone. The Indiana State game had moments where the crowd wasn’t in it and that may have helped the Sycamores creep back into the game.

Thankfully for MSU, this game is the annual Izzone alumni game. Typically they are just as loud as the regular Izzone, but you never know what you’ll get from us alumni.

So all the regular fans in the seats above need to contribute more than they usually do. A quiet crowd only helps Penn State and we need to do all we can to keep our home-court advantage intact before the Izzone returns.

In all honestly, Michigan State basketball can probably play its C+ game and still beat Penn State. However, the Spartans don’t want to take any chances by giving Penn State any hope. They also have been playing extremely well recently and I’d love to keep that momentum going into Big Ten play.

These three keys, however, should give MSU an extremely good chance at winning its first Big Ten game this season.