EAST LANSING – Jaden Akins jogged across midcourt, took a pass on the wing and stepped into an open shot.
The 3-pointer dropped, the Breslin Center crowd popped and Michigan State’s lead was back to 10 points in the second half.
Although Penn State pushed back, Akins and the No. 12 Spartans (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten) did enough down the stretch to pull out a 90-85 win on Wednesday night in a physical and foul-plagued matchup.
Penn State (12-6, 2-5) pulled within four with less than a minute to play but Akins drove to the lane with the shot clock expiring and scored while getting fouled. The senior guard completed the three-point play and Michigan State held on for its 10th straight win and longest streak since 13 in a row in the 2018-19 season.
Frankie Fidler, who has been mired in a shooting slump, scored 14 of his season-high 18 in the second half to lead the Spartans and grabbed seven rebounds. Akins added 16 points and six rebounds while Coen Carr scored nine.
Penn State, which has lost four straight, was led by Ace Baldwin. The senior guard returned after missing a game due to a back injury and had 20 points and nine assists. D’Marco Dunn added 18, Zach Hicks had 14 and Yanic Konan Niederhauser 13 before fouling out.
Michigan State attempted a season-low eight 3-pointers in Sunday’s win at Northwestern but was trigger happy from deep early against Penn State. The Spartans had seven triple tries less than four minutes into the game and hit three of them with one each from Akins, Tre Holloman and Jaxon Kohler for an early 11-4 lead.
The Nittany Lions wasted no time getting in foul trouble with three in the first 2:10 and the Spartans were in the bonus less than seven minutes in. Michigan State made its first 11 from the line while helping build a double-digit lead.
Chippy play between the teams began early and continued with players tangled up multiple times and 19 combined first-half fouls. After Szymon Zapala was fouled and attempted a dunk after the whistle, he hit the ground after contact with Baldwin. That upset Jeremy Fears, who had words for Baldwin and that resulted in a technical foul.
For the second straight game, all 10 Spartans who got on the court in the opening half scored while building a 46-36 lead at halftime. Carr led the way with nine and the Spartans outscored the Nittany Lions 19-5 in points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Penn State starter Puff Johnson suffered a right hand injury in the first half and didn’t return to play. He had a large wrap on his hand while sitting on the bench during the second half as Dunn led the team with 10 first-half points.
The Nittany Lions opened the second half on an 8-0 run to pull within two and both teams shott well early. Penn State made six straight field goals but Michigan State, which snapped a string of seven straight missed 3-pointers, knocked down seven of eight to regain a nine-point lead.
Foul trouble tilted to Michigan State as Fears, Holloman and Jase Richardson were all on the bench with three and Penn State in the bonus midway through the half.
A third triple of the game by Akins put the Spartans back up 10 with eight minutes to play but Penn State pushed back and pulled as close as three but Fidler provided a spark and Akins helped close out the win.
Michigan will close out a two-game homestand this week by hosting No. 19 Illinois (13-4, 5-2) on Sunday (Noon, CBS).
