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No. 11 Michigan State hangs on vs. PSU

Feb 9, 2012 - 5:09 AM East Lansing, MI (Sports Network) - Draymond Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds and No. 11 Michigan State led wire-to-wire to beat Penn State, 77-57, at Breslin Center on Wednesday.

Penn State cut the Spartans' advantage, as large as 22 points early in the second half, down to five with 9:10 remaining, but never mustered enough offense to take the lead.

Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne both added 12 points and Keith Appling scored 10 with seven assists for Michigan State (19-5, 8-3 Big Ten), which remained undefeated at home this season (15-0).

"He finally put a smile on his face. He did a lot of things, seven assists and one turnover," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said of Appling. "When he was on (Tim) Frazier, he did a hell of a job on Frazier. I thought Appling played really good in everything except looking for his shot and shooting a little bit."

Tim Frazier, the leader in scoring, rebounding and assists for Penn State (10-15, 2-10) this season, did the same Wednesday with 19, five and seven in the loss. Jermaine Marshall contributed 12 points before fouling out with 5:31 to play.

The Lions shot a dismal 20.8 percent from the field on 5-of-24 shooting in the first half. Michigan State's shooting wasn't much better -- 8-of-30 for 26.7 percent from the floor -- but 14 offensive rebounds and 13-of-16 free throw shooting was enough for the Spartans to take a 33-19 lead into the locker room.

The half was dominated by physicality and good defense, but poor shooting and sloppy play also contributed to the low halftime score. The two teams combined for 19 turnovers in the first, with the Spartans capitalizing for 10 points off Penn State's nine miscues.

Game Notes

Penn State played its fifth ranked opponent in six games...The Spartans lead the all-time series 30-7 and are 19-1 in East Lansing...Penn State has not won on the road in Big Ten conference play this season (0-7).