Mcihigan State played an 0-11 Big Ten team in Penn State at the right time, and came out victorious, 65-54, to end a three-game skid.

But, in all honesty, JoePa took a nice slug at MSU and actually led mid-way, 46-44, through the second half. That is when we finally saw the Big Green defense we know and love. Spurred by solid defense on Talor Battle after inserting walk-on #20 Mike Kebler, the Spartans shut down Penn State going on a 14-4 run over eight minutes, from 12:24 to 4:59 left.

Talor Battle did score 30 points for Joe Pa. But, Kalin Lucas had 24 points (6 asts, 3 stls) for MSU in response. The Spartans shot well, hitting 7-13 threes (54%) and 26-55 (47%). MSU outrebounded Penn State, 32-23. The Spartans had 18 assists total, and only had 9 turnovers -- a solid 2-1 ratio by the team.

Durrell Summers played better for MSU, 9 pts and 4 rebs. But Morgan is still struggling, with just 4 pts (2-8 shooting) and 6 rebs. Notably, Korie Lucious didn't make the trip for academic reasons. Next up: at Indiana on Tuesday night. MSU remains on top of the Big Ten...

Other notable games on the Big Ten leaderboard:

Wisconsin is currently skunking Indiana.
Iowa at Purdue, 4:30 today.
Ohio State at Illinois, 1 pm tomorrow.
Purdue at Ohio State, 6:30 Wednesday.
Wisconsin at Minnesota, 9 pm Thursday.
Illinois at Purdue, 4 pm, Feb. 20 (next Saturday).