Michigan State went on the road and got a huge victory over Penn State, taking down the Nittany Lions, 80-72.
While a convincing performance, you can tell Tom Izzo wasn’t entirely satisfied, but all in all, a win is a win and the Spartans made it relatively stress free for Spartan Nation.
The win also posed as a huge Q2 victory for MSU, further bolstering their NCAA Tournament resume, something that needs to continue to improve for the Spartans to feel good on selection Sunday.
Check out three takeaways from MSU’s big win:
1. A win without Tyson Walker
Michigan State held control of this game for almost the full 60 minutes, and did this without Tyson Walker having a typical performance. The MSU star finished with only 6 points, and was very quiet on offense.
Malik Hall (29 points) and Jaden Akins (20 points) picked up the slack tonight, but furthermore, the Spartans showed they can win a game on a night where their star might not have it offensively, a sure confidence boost.
2. Carson Cooper shines
We touched on the center position after Saturday’s game, but tonight further cemented those findings. Carson Cooper tied a career high with 10 points on Wednesday, and finished with a remarkable +17 +/- in the game.
Conversely, Mady Sissoko finished with a terrible -11 in the contest, further showing that Cooper is the answer at the center position. Xavier Booker and Jaxon Kohler also added good minutes at the center spot in this game.
3. Looking good on the road
All in all, after tonight, Spartan Nation can feel good that MSU went on the road and had a relatively easy win on the road. Especially against a hot team in Penn State who came into the game winning 3 of 4.
Spartan fans have been waiting for this team to figure it out on the road, and they finally did that on Wednesday, just in time to build that confidence for the home stretch of the 2023-24 season.
