Penn State falls in lopsided defeat to Michigan State 92-61

Penn State suffered its most one-sided defeat of the season on Thursday night at the hands of Michigan State, falling 92-61 to the streaking Spartans. The Nittany Lions found themselves out of the Big Ten battle in the first half and were unable to mount a large comeback, dropping to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

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After making it an 18-12 game at the 12:47 mark of the first half, Michigan State put its foot on the pedal, going on a 25-6 run over the next eight minutes. A large part of the onslaught surrendered by the Nittany Lions was a result of Tyson Walker and Malik Hall, both of which had strong showings.

Walker and Hall combined for 28 of Michigan State's 51 points in the first 20 minutes, shooting a blazing 11-13 from the floor. Penn State also coughed it up an eye-popping 14 times in the first half, which resulted in 20 points off turnovers.

Penn State couldn't make up ground on the heels of the lengthy run by Michigan State, ultimately losing by its largest margin of defeat on the year.

Kanye Clary led the Nittany Lions in scoring for the sixth straight contest, putting up a team-high 21 points on 5-10 shooting and 10-10 from the charity stripe. The leading scorer was one of just two Nittany Lions to reach double-figures, being joined by forward Nick Kern, who had 10 points.

The combination of Ace Baldwin Jr. and Puff Johnson struggled in the Breslin Center, shooting a combined 1-14 from the field for just seven points. D'Marco Dunn and Zach Hicks also had off shooting nights, going just 1-10 from beyond the arc.

Penn State's downfall, alongside the turnovers, stemmed from its poor perimeter shooting performance on Thursday. The Nittany Lions were just 3-29 on the night from three-point range, which was a far cry from their 32% clip on the year.

Michigan State has now topped Penn State in five of the last six meetings between the two conference foes, including the last two.

Next up:

Mike Rhoades will look to rally the troops next time out in the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center when Penn State takes on Michigan.