Michigan State University
Penn St
No. 5 Spartans Tame Nittany Lions, 76-57
2/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2001
By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Michigan State used its defense to stay in the hunt for the Big Ten Conference title.
Charlie Bell and Jason Richardson each scored 16 points to lead the Spartans, but coach Tom Izzo said the more important stats were the points Penn State's stars didn't score.
Bell held the league's leading scorer, Joe Crispin, without a field goal in the second half, and Richardson allowed Titus Ivory just five points in the Spartans' 76-57 victory Saturday night over Penn State.
"The defensive job that Richardson and Bell did on Crispin and Ivory was a big, big, big key to the game," Izzo said.
After losing the lead for the first time midway through the second half, Michigan State (22-3, 11-3) went on a 10-0 run, including a basket and two free throws from Bell, to go up 57-48 with 6:04 left.
"We just locked up our defense and stopped the run," Bell said. "We went back to the old Spartans, and that's winning games on the defensive end. Even if we're scoring easily, we know we have to win the game defensively."
Jon Crispin scored on a putback for the Nittany Lions (16-9, 6-8). But Bell scored five more in an 11-0 run that put Michigan State up 68-50 with 2:08 left and put the game out of reach.
"We got up by one, and there were four or five possessions we didn't score," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "We had good looks at the basket ... and they didn't go down. And we stopped them four or five times, but when you don't score it just puts a lot of pressure on your defense. You never really give yourself a cushion."
Penn State never led in the first half, but Brandon Watkins hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 47-47 tie and the Nittany Lions took their first lead when Gyasi Cline-Heard hit one of two free throws to put Penn State up 48-47 with 9:58 left in the game.
Andre Hutson finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds, and Zach Randolph scored 10 points for the Spartans.
Cline-Heard led Penn State with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Joe Crispin, who came in averaging 20.2 points per game, finished with 16 points. But his only second-half points came on a pair of free throws with just 1:13 left.
"We tried to make it tough for him to get open," Bell said. "If you give him too many good looks, he's going to knock them down."
The win leaves the Spartans just a half-game behind No. 3 Illinois in the Big Ten standings. The Illini beat Iowa 89-63 Saturday.
With their size and quickness in the post, the Spartans dominated inside in the first half, getting 21 points from Randolph, Richardson, Hutson and Aloysius Anagonye and grabbing nine offensive rebounds. Michigan State outrebounded the Nittany Lions 23-13 in the first half and led 38-30 at halftime.
"Our game plan was go try and go inside because we thought if we could get it in there we could get to the free throw line, get them in foul trouble," Izzo said.
The crowd at the sold-out Bryce Jordan Center gave a standing ovation at halftime to Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro, who was back on campus for the first time since sustaining a serious neck injury Sept. 23 in a football game at Ohio State. Although initially paralyzed, Taliaferro can now walk on his own.
