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PrintUNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A trip to Penn State was the perfect remedy for No. 10 Michigan State to end its three-game losing streak.
Point guard Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten Conference's reigning player of the year, shook off a nagging ankle injury to score a season-high 24 points as the Spartans rallied for a 65-54 victory Saturday against the Nittany Lions.
Penn State (8-16, 0-12) had taken a 46-44 lead on David Jackson's 3-pointer with 12:24 remaining in the second half. But Michigan State (20-6, 10-3) went on a 13-0 run to take control of the game in front of 14,017 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.
"We definitely went through a little drought," said Penn State point guard Talor Battle, who had a game-high 30 points in a game when fans received his figurine. "They locked in defensively, and I think at the same time, we really didn't execute offensively in our sets.
PDF"We couldn't even get up a shot a couple times, so credit those guys."
Lucas, playing with a taped right ankle that was sprained Feb. 2 at Wisconsin, had missed one game for the Spartans before coming off the bench Tuesday. But he tied his career-high in points by making 10 of 15 shots. He had a game-high six assists for the Spartans, who also got 14 points from guard Chris Allen.
"I learned that it's hard to play well against good teams without your quarterback and our quarterback may have played his best game of the year," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "As far as Kalin goes, he was under control."
Battle, a first-team All-Big Ten pick a year ago, registered his fourth 30-point game of the season, hitting 7 of 11 3-pointers and 9 of 16 shots overall. He also had five assists and five rebounds.
But Penn State still managed to extend its worst conference start in school history, and its longest losing streak in four seasons just 10 months after winning a school-record 27 games, capped by the National Invitation Tournament championship.
"That's the best 0-12 team I've seen for a while in our league," Izzo said.
Michigan State's bench outscored the Lions, 14-1, and outrebounded them, 13-1. The Spartans also held Penn State's nine players not named Battle to 24 combined points.
Forward David Jackson (10 points) was the only other player in double figures for the Lions, who shot 40.9 percent from the field (18 of 44) and 42.3 percent (11 of 26) from 3-point range. Michigan State shot 47.3 percent (26 of 55) from the floor and 53.8 percent (7 of 13) from behind the arc.
"We played pretty well for 30 minutes and had the lead," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "We just haven't been able to finish games off and that has been the M.O. all year.
"When we get it close, whether it's 10 minutes or five minutes or where we've got to make a play, we haven't been able to make a play, whether it's a defensive play or an offensive play. That part is frustrating.
"I think we will win. I keep saying that and telling them that every day in practice. We just haven't."
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