Michigan State at Penn State tipoff: Matchup analysis and a prediction
• What: Michigan State at Penn State
• When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
• TV/Radio: Big Ten Network/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; Sirius/XM Ch. 84 (MSU broadcast)
• Records/Rankings: MSU is 5-4 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten and unranked. Penn State is 6-2 overall. This is the Nittany Lions' Big Ten opener. They are also unranked.
• Betting line: Penn State -4
• Coaches: MSU — Tom Izzo is 671-271 in his 28th season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. Penn State — Micah Shrewsberry is 20-19 in his second season as a head coach, both with the Nittany Lions.
• Series: MSU leads 42-10 all-time. The teams split last season's two meetings, with each side winning at home.
Lineups
MSU
C (22) Mady Sissoko (6-9) 8.0
PF (10) Joey Hauser (6-9) 13.2
G (3) Jaden Akins (6-4) 6.0
G (2) Tyson Walker (6-1) 14.4
PG (11) AJ Hoggard (6-4) 11.6
Penn State
C (3) Kebba Njie (6-10) 5.1
F (1) Seth Lundy (6-6) 13.6
G (10) Andrew Funk (6-5) 11.0
G (11) Camren Wynter (6-2) 11.6
PG (22) Jalen Pickett (6-4) 16.1
• MSU update: The Spartans are coming off back to back losses to Northwestern and Notre Dame, which have turned their promising start on its head. Jaden Akins’ returned for Sunday’s home game against Northwestern and played 23 minutes. He was clearly winded at times and still getting his legs and feel for the game back, especially on the offensive end. MSU will be without Malik Hall for a while longer, until at least after Christmas. MSU’s statistical splits with and without Hall are most stark defensively. In four games with Hall, the Spartans held their opponents to less than 27% shooting beyond the arc and 39% from the floor overall. In the five games since, opponents have made 37% of 3-point tries and 45% of their shots from the field. Some of the difference is obviously also a result of Akins’ four-game absence.
• Penn State update: The Nittany Lions are coming off a double-overtime loss at Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge last Tuesday, giving them significant rest and time to prepare for their date with the Spartans. Penn State has been impressive at times early this season, including in a win over Butler. This is a good shooting team, leading the Big Ten in 3-point percentage by a ways (.404) and is near the top of the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, partly because this is a seasoned and guard-heavy squad. What Penn State doesn’t have is great fan support. Second-year coach Micah Shrewsberry told reporters this week that he’d resort to “begging” fans to show up. “If you want to see a good basketball team, if you want to help our program go from one level to the next, then there’s got to be some level of investment, and we’re getting to put-up-or-shut-up time,” he said.
• Inside the matchup: Like with Northwestern, the names in Penn State’s backcourt are familiar — Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, Myles Dread. They’ve also added Drexel transfer Camren Wynter. Pickett is a terrific do-it-all guard, with good size. Lundy, Dread, Wynter and Andrew Funk are the guards and wings who are most likely to beat you with their outside shooting. The Nittany Lions basically play four guards around one big or five guards at once. This is a game where MSU will dearly miss Malik Hall’s defensively versatility. Having Jaden Akins back will help. He’ll be able to defend at least 1 through 4 in this game. I’ll be interested to see how MSU counters Penn State’s lineups. The Spartans could play Joey Hauser some at center. He also might wind up with some difficult matchups defensively on the perimeter.
• Prediction: One of the problems for the Spartans right now is that they’re still a big brand and so this is another big game for their opponent — and another opponent that believes it can win. MSU, in its current state, isn’t as strong a team as its brand. Penn State, like Northwestern, is every bit as capable as this version of the Spartans. MSU has to dig deep, play with grit and find a way to get through this one. It the Spartans win, it’ll create a more pleasant vibe for the next three weeks, as they work on themselves during a lighter stretch of the schedule.
• Make it: Penn State 68, MSU 64
MORE: Couch: Predicting Michigan State's basketball season – Gonzaga, Kentucky, Villanova, the Big Ten and
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball at Penn State: Prediction, preview, TV, betting info
