Michigan State basketball vs. Penn State tipoff: Matchup analysis and a prediction

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Michigan State’s Tre Holloman, bottom, and Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr. battle for the ball during the first half on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in East Lansing

• What: Michigan State vs. Penn State

• When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

• Where: Breslin Center

• TV/Radio: Big Ten Network/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 195 (MSU broadcast), 372 (Penn State broadcast)

• Records/Rankings: MSU is 14-2 overall, 5-0 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 12 in both the Coaches Poll and in The Associated Press Poll, and is No. 14 via the college basketball analytics site Kenpom.com. Penn State is 12-5 overall, 2-4 in the Big Ten and unranked by the major polls, while being rated No. 50 by Kenpom.

• Projected betting line: MSU -10 (via Kenpom’s prediction, which is where Vegas gets its line these days)

• Coaches: Michigan State — Tom Izzo is 721-297 in his 30th season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. Penn State — Mike Rhoades is 401-211 in his 21st season as a head coach, including 28-22 in his second season as with the Nittany Lions. He spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at VCU.

• Series: MSU leads 45-10 all-time, including two wins last season.

Projected lineups

MSU

C (10) Szymon Zapala (7-0) 6.0

F (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 7.9

G (3) Jaden Akins (6-4) 14.1

G (5) Tre Holloman (6-2) 7.4

PG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) 7.9

Penn State

C (14) Yanic Konan Niederhauser (7-0) 12.1

F (5) Puff Johnson (6-8) 10.6

F (24) Zach Hicks (6-8) 12.2

G (4) Freddie Dilione V (6-4) 10.4

G (1) Ace Baldwin Jr. (6-1) 13.9

• MSU update: The Spartans have won nine straight games, including Sunday’s 78-68 win at Northwestern. Through a 5-0 start in conference play, MSU leads the Big Ten in average scoring margin (21.2 points), assists (20.0 per game) and free-throw percentage (84.5%), and is second in blocked shots (5.2 per game) and rebounds (39.6), and third in field-goal percentage (50.2%) and assist-to-turnover ratio. Also notably, in conference play,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-basketball-vs-penn-133708573.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-14 13:37:00

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