No. 16 Michigan State Wraps up Road Swing Tuesday at Penn State

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's basketball team wraps up a two-game road swing, visiting No. 20 Penn State on Tuesday, March 3. Tipoff in State College, Pennsylvania, is slated for 7 p.m.

The game will air live on ESPN, with Dave Flemming, Dan Dakich and Molly McGrath calling all of the action. The Spartan Sports Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at SpartanSportsNetwork.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Matt Steigenga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on SiriusXM Big Ten Radio, XM 383 and Internet 973.

Records
Michigan State, winner of three-straight games, including a 78-66 decision at No. 9 Maryland, enters Tuesday's game with a 20-9 overall record and an 12-6 mark in the Big Ten Conference. Penn State is 21-8 overall and 11-7 in league play.

About the Spartans

Senior guard Cassius Winston (Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) leads MSU, and ranks third in the Big Ten, in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game. Winston is also fourth in the league in assists (5.8 apg), first in free throw percentage, connecting on 86.5 percent of his shots (109-of-126), ninth in field goal percentage (43.4%), first in 3-point percentage (42.5%) and tied for sixth in steals (1.2 spg). Winston is one of six Division I players averaging at least 18.0 points, 5.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Junior forward Xavier Tillman Sr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Christian) is second on the team with 13.3 points per game (T14th in the Big Ten) and tops the team (3rd in the Big Ten) with 10.2 rebounds per game, while adding 3.0 assists (T14th in the Big Ten) per game and 2.1 blocks per game (4th in the Big Ten). Tillman is the only player in the league in the top-15 in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks Tillman is the only player in Division I who averages at least 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. He is also the only Big Ten player in the top-20 in the league in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks.
Sophomore forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) is third on the team with 9.9 points per game, while adding 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
MSU has three other players averaging at least 4.0 points per game, led by freshman guard Rocket Watts (Detroit, Mich./SPIRE Academy [Ohio]),, who scored a career-high 21 points at Illinois and matched that against Iowa ... He is averaging 8.3 points per game (9.1 in Big Ten games) and 2.2 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) is averaging 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds and scored a career-high 17 points at Nebraska.
Freshman forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]),, who has started eight games and scored 16 points and had six rebounds at Maryland, is averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds.
MSU is 6-4 away from home this season. They have won four of their last six road games, with wins at Minnesota (70-52), Illinois (70-69), Nebraska (86-65) and Maryland (78-66).
The Spartans have been strong on the road in the last two-plus years, carrying a 22-9 overall record and a 20-8 record in the Big Ten.
MSU is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press Poll, No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches polls and No. 7 per kenpom.com, No. 7 in the NCAA Net and No. 4 in the ESPN BPI.

About Penn State

Penn State enters the game on Tuesday night with a 21-8 overall record, including an 11-7 mark in Big Ten Conference play.
The Nittany Lions have lost three of their last four games, including a 77-68 decision at Iowa on Saturday.
Penn State is 14-2 at home, including a 6-2 mark in league play.
The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 20 by the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches poll, are No. 26 in the NCAA Net, No. 20 in kenpom.com and No. 22 in the ESPN BPI.
Senior forward Lamar Stevens leads Penn State, averaging 17.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He is fourth in the league in scoring and 12th in rebounding.
Sophomore guard Myreon Jones is second on the team with 13.7 points and leads the team in 3-pointers, connecting on 40.3 percent of his shots (52-of-129). Jones is third in the league in 3-pointers made per game (2.3).
Senior forward Mike Watkins is averaging 9.6 points and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds, which ranks tied for ninth in the league and junior guard Jamari Wheeler is averaging 3.8 points and leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.
Penn State is third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (75.4 ppg) and 10th in the league in scoring defense (67.4 ppg).

Series History

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Penn State, 39-9.
The Spartans have won 23 of the last 29 games in the series, including 10 of the last 12.
Tom Izzo is 32-8 in his career against Penn State.
Michigan State is 15-4 in games played in University Park and has won four of the last five games on the road.
The Nittany Lions won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 75-70, on Feb. 4 at the Breslin Center.

Last Meeting

Michigan State took a three-point lead late in the game, but could not hold on as Penn State pulled out a 75-70 win on Feb. 4.
Cassius Winston scored 25 points and had nine assists to lead the Michigan State, while Xavier Tillman added nine points, 11 rebounds, two assists and five blocked shots.
The Spartans took a 66-63 lead on a 3-pointer from Winston with 5:29 to play, but a jumper from Lamar Stevens gave PSU a 67-66 lead.
A pair of free throws gave PSU a 69-66 lead before Aaron Henry hit a jumper to cut the lead to one.
Winston hit a layup and was fouled with 11 seconds left to make it 71-70, but his free throw was off the mark and Nittany Lions hit four free throws to seal the win.

No. 16 Michigan State Wraps up Road Swing Tuesday at Penn State

Players Mentioned

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Aaron Henry

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Rocket Watts

Cassius Winston

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