Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Michigan St 78, Penn St. 51
When: 2:25 PM ET, Thursday, March 9, 2017
Where: Captial One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Officials: # Terry Wymer, # Larry Scirotto, # Paul Szelc
Attendance: 12189

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Freshman forwards Miles Bridges and Nick Ward had 15 points and nine rebounds apiece to lead Michigan State past Penn State 78-51 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at the Verizon Center.

Another Spartans freshman, guard Joshua Langford, added 13 points and sophomore guard Matt McQuaid chipped in nine. Michigan State had a 44-29 rebounding advantage and a 16-0 differential in fast-break points.

The Spartans (19-13), seeded fifth in the tournament, will face No. 4 seed Minnesota in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (15-18) defeated No. 12 Nebraska in the opening round on Wednesday but were no match for the Spartans. Forward Lamar Stevens and guard Tony Carr led Penn State, which defeated Michigan State 72-63 during the regular season, with 16 points each.

This one was decided early, as Michigan State led by 18 at halftime.

Up by five midway through the first half, the Spartans reeled off 12 consecutive points to take a 30-13 lead. Langford scored five of those points and Bridges contributed a dunk and a layup.

The Nittany Lions cut the advantage to nine, 36-27, on a Stevens layup. The Spartans then scored the last nine points prior to halftime to take complete control. Bridges got that outburst going with the tip-in and finished it off with a dunk off a Langford feed to make the score 45-27.

When McQuaid drained a 3-pointer with 14:12 remaining, the Spartans' lead was to 23 at 60-37. The lead eventually grew to as much as 28 points.
Top Game Performances
 
Penn St.   Michigan St
Tony Carr 16 Scoring Miles Bridges 15
Tony Carr 3 Assists Lourawls Nairn Jr 9
Shep Garner 7 Rebounds Miles Bridges 9
Tony Carr 9 Free Throws Made Nick Ward 5
Josh Reaves 1 Steals Miles Bridges 1
Mike Watkins 2 Blocks Miles Bridges 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Penn St. 51 29.1 4-15 15-19 8 27 3 3 11
Michigan St 78 49.1 10-22 12-18 19 43 8 4 13