Photo: Dale Young ~ IMAGN IMAGES
EAST LANSING, Jan. 15, 2025 ~ #12 Michigan State basketball (15-2) held off a hot shooting second half from Penn State (12-6) to take a 90-85 victory at the Breslin Center. Senior forward Frankie Fidler scored a season-high 18 points, converting some tough layups through contact near the end of the game to help secure the Spartans 10th consecutive victory. The Omaha transfer was also active in the passing lanes and on the glass, leading his team with seven rebounds and four steals.
“Frankie did a good job, and he is going to get better,” head coach Tom Izzo told WJR Correspondent Nick Lundberg after the game. “Playing him at the four helped, I thought his biggest key was that he got seven rebounds. I was happy that the players were happy for him, but we have a long way to go.”
Senior guard Jaden Akins followed with 16 points of his own, adding 11 second half points on an efficient 46% shooting percentage. His and-one layup in the final minute of the game pushed the contest out of the Nittany Lions‘ reach.
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Jaden. Akins. AND ONE! @JadenAkins3 x @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/Ki0Sp7gEb1
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 16, 2025
(CONTINUED) Depth for the green and white has been key to the strong start to the season for the team, and Wednesday night was no different. 10 players reached the scoring column while junior point guard Tre Holloman was the third player to reach the double digit mark with 10 points.
Three point shooting for Penn State kept them in the game until the very end. The team made six of their nine attempts in the final 20 minutes.
Although the Spartans won the turnover battle and had 14 more points off turnovers than their opponent did, the end of the game became very sloppy once redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. came out with foul trouble. He was running the offense smoothly until that point, leading his team with seven assists to go with eight points.
Lots of fouls were called down the stretch on Michigan State, but clutch free throw shooting on the opposite end kept MSU ahead the entire way. Michigan State converted on 20 of their 24 attempts from the stripe.
MSU will be back in East Lansing Sunday, Jan. 19 for a huge matchup against #19 Illinois. Stay tuned to 760 WJR for coverage starting at 11 a.m.
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