Penn State Vs. Michigan State: How to Watch, Stream the Big Ten Basketball Game
Two Big Ten basketball teams on opposite trajectories will meet Wednesday night, as Penn State looks to upset No. 12 Michigan State on the road and snap a three-game losing streak. To do so, the Nittany Lions will have to knock off one of the hottest teams in the country. Coach Tom Izzo’s Spartans have won nine straight games and are 8-0 at home. Michigan State is also one of two Big Ten teams with perfect conference records so far this season.
Penn State is set to face its third straight top-15 opponent after losses to No. 13 Illinois and No. 15 Oregon in the past week. The Nittany Lions largely have been competitive against ranked teams under coach Mike Rhoades, though that wasn’t the case against the Fighting Illini last Wednesday. Illinois smashed Penn State 91-52 by holding the Nittany Lions to only .307 shooting.
Penn State was much more competitive against the Ducks last Sunday. The Nittany Lions rallied from a halftime deficit to take a 78-76 lead with two minutes to go but failed to finish, allowing Oregon to escape with an 82-81 win. The losses were deflating for a team that has NCAA Tournament aspirations, and Rhoades will need to rally his group to get back on track.
Penn State (12-5, 2-4) at No. 12 Michigan State (14-2, 5-0)
- When: 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday
- Where: Breslin Center, East Lansing, Mich.
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Streaming: B1G+
- Betting Line: Michigan State is an 11-point favorite, according to DraftKings
- KenPom Rankings: Penn State is No. 50; Michigan State is No. 14
- NCAA NET Rankings: Penn State is No. 50; Michigan State is No. 15
- Series History: Michigan State leads 45-10
- Last Meeting: Michigan State 80-72 in February 2024
About the Nittany Lions
The injury status of guard Ace Baldwin Jr. is a big factor going into this game after he missed the Oregon game due to a back injury. Rhoades said after the game that Baldwin is “day-to-day.” Having the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year back in the lineup would be a boost for Penn State on both ends of the court. Baldwin is a stellar defender who averages 2.0 steals per game but also is Penn State’s best playmaker, with a team-leading 13.9 points and 8 assists per game.
Further, Penn State looks to shake a bitter home loss to Oregon, a game Rhoades believed his team should have won.
"I love my team, I love these guys, I love how hard they play," Rhoades said. "That’s on me. I take pride in how we finish games, close games especially. That's a 60-minute game. I need to help our guys more. I choked. We choked as a team. You’ve got to win those games, man. You’ve got to find a way to win. But as proud as I am of my guys today, that was an awesome college basketball game, I’m just really pissed that we lost. I didn't come here to lose. And you've got to go through this stuff to get where you want to go, and this hurts. This is a game we could have had. Just how it goes. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. That's a game we could have won, we should have won, we didn't win."
About the Spartans
Michigan State has a productive offense, led by senior guard Jaden Akins. Akins is enjoying a career season, leading the Spartans in scoring with 14.1 points per game. His .451 shooting percentage is also a career-high. In two games against Penn State last season, Akins had a combined 30 points, including six 3-pointers. Penn State will look to stop him first and foremost, though it’s worth noting that Michigan State has multiple capable scorers. Seven players are averaging seven or more points per game.
Michigan State is 26-2 against Penn State at home, though six of the series’ last seven games have been decided by single digits.
More Penn State Basketball
"We choked," Penn State coach Mike Rhoades says of loss to Oregon
Nittany Lions recover too late to beat Indiana
Penn State wins "gutcheck" game vs. Northwestern
Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson