Ugochukwu Scores Career-High 23 Points, No. 9 Michigan State Hangs on to Beat Penn State, 76-72

Saturday, December 13

University Park, Pa

12 PM

Michigan State University

9-1,2-0Big Ten

Penn State

8-3,0-2Big Ten

Michigan St.

Penn St.

Ugochukwu Scores Career-High 23 Points, No. 9 Michigan State Hangs on to Beat Penn State, 76-72

12/13/2025 2:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook Michigan State at Penn State December 13, 2025 Michigan State 76, Penn State 72

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu scored a career-high 23 points to lead three players in double figures as No. 9 Michigan State fought back from a first-half deficit to beat Penn State, 76-72, at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday afternoon.

Ugochukwu hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor and all five of his 3-point attempts while adding three steals to lead the Spartans.

Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had his fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, senior center Carson Cooper added 10 points and six rebounds and redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with eight points and a game-high nine assists.

Records
Michigan State improves to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten Conference, while Penn State falls to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Recap

The Spartans trailed by as many as nine points in the first half (31-22) and went into the break down three (39-36) before taking a 10-point lead early in the second half (51-41) and then yielding an 11-0 run by Penn State, setting up a back-and forth second half with five ties and five lead changes.
Trailing 67-64 after free throws from Penn State's Freddie Dilione, Cooper hit a pair of free throws (4:12) and a 3-pointer from Ugochukwu gave MSU the lead for good, 69-67, with 3:27 left.
That triggered a 9-0 run over 3:26 as MSU took a 73-67 lead with 36 seconds left after Ugochukwu hit his fifth trey of the day and Fears hit 1-of-2 free throws.
Fears hit another free throw with 20 seconds left and Ugochukwu hit a pair with eight seconds left to seal the win.
The Spartans had opened the second half with a 15-2 run over 5:25, taking a 51-41 lead on a 4-point play from freshman forward Jordan Scott at 14:35.
Penn State responded quickly, using an 11-0 run over 1:11 to take a 52-51 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Ivan Juric and Dilione
MSU took a 58-54 lead on a 3-pointer from Ugochukwu (10:33), but the Nittany Lions took three-point leads twice, the last at 67-64 to set up the finish.
Michigan State had gone into the half trailing 39-36 with Penn State taking advantage of eight first half turnovers by the Spartans to score 10 points.
The Spartans took a 17-8 lead at the 13:47 mark of the first half before the Nittany Lions went on a 21-5 run and took a 29-22 lead on free throws from Dilione.
The deficit was 31-22 after a jumper from Tibor Mirtic but MSU out-scored Penn State, 14-8, over the final 6:35 to narrow the gap to three points at the break.

Key Stats

Michigan State shot a season-high 55.6 percent from 3-point land (10-of-18).
The Spartans hit 46.2 percent of their field goals (24-of-52), including 53.6 percent in the first half (14-of-26).
MSU connected on 85.7 percent of its free throws (18-of-21), including 15-of-17 (88.2%) in the second half.
The Spartans out-rebounded Penn State, 40-27, including a 24-12 advantage in the second half.
MSU committed a season-high 17 turnovers and Penn State scored 23 points off of those.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Penn State, 47-10, and has won the last five meetings between the teams.
- The Spartans are 19-5 all-time at Penn State and have won the last three games at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo is 40-9 all-time against Penn State.
Izzo's career record improved to 746-303 in his 31st year at the helm of the MSU program.
The Spartans have an all-time record of 167-41 under Izzo in December.
MSU is 1-0 on the road this season and 3-1 in day games.
The Spartans are 2-0 when trialing at the half (Arkansas, where they also trailed 39-36 at the break).
MSU is 8-0 when shooting better than its opponent (46.2% to 42.4%).
Michigan State shot 46.2 percent from the floor (24-of-52), the seventh time this season hitting at least 45.0 percent.
- Penn State is just the second team to shoot above 40 percent against the Spartans.
The Spartans scored 79 points, the eighth time this season scoring at least 70.
- MSU is 8-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
- Penn State is the first team to score more than 70 points against the Spartans.
MSU controlled the battle of the boards (40-27) for the ninth time this season.
- The Spartans collected 11 offensive rebounds, the ninth game with at least 10 on the offensive glass, scoring 13 second-chance points.
The Spartans hit 18 free throws, the sixth time this season with at least 15 makes from the charity stripe.
- MSU's 21 attempts marked the sixth time this season with at least 20.
MSU limited Duke to just 38.2 percent shooting from the floor, the eighth-straight opponent to shoot below 40 percent.
The Spartans held Duke to 66 points, a season low.
- It was the ninth time this season holding an opponent below 70 points.
Sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu scored a career-high 23 points and led the team in scoring for the second time this season.
- This was his first career 20-point game.
- He has scored in double figures twice this year and five times for his career.
- Ugochukwu hit a career-high eight field goals and a career-best five 3-point attempts.
- He added a season-high three steals.
Senior forward Jaxon Kohler had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
- This was his fifth double-double of the season.
- Kohler has five games this year with at least 10 rebounds and 17 for his career.
- He has led the team in rebounding five times this year and 26 for his career.
- He has scored in double figures 10 times this year and 22 for his career.
- Kohler played a career-high 33 minutes.
Senior center Carson Cooper scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.
- He has scored in double figures seven times this season and 11 for his career.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. scored eight points and handed out a game-high nine assists.
- He has led the team in assists 10 times this year and 32 for his career.
- This was his eighth game with at least nine assists this season.
Freshman forward Jordan Scott scored a career-high seven points.

Up Next
Michigan State returns home to host Toledo on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at the Breslin Center. The game tips off at 6:30 p.m. and will air live on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister and Tom Crean calling the action.