NCAA Game Summary - Penn at Michigan State
11.29.2003
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East Lansing, MI (Basketball News) - Kelvin Torbert scored 15 points to lead third-ranked Michigan State to an easy 77-52 win over Penn in the semifinals of the 21st Spartan Classic at the Breslin Center.
Chris Hill scored 13 and Shannon Brown added 12 for the Spartans (2-1), who rebounded from last Tuesday’s 81-74 loss to Kansas.
Tim Begley had 17 points for the Quakers (1-2), who have beaten Michigan State only once in four career meetings.
Michigan State will battle the winner of the DePaul-Indiana State game in Sunday’s final, while Penn will play in the consolation game against the loser.
Penn jumped out to an early 13-9 lead on Begley’s three-pointer with just over 12 minutes left in the first half. The Spartans battled back and scored 11 of the next 13 points, capped by Paul Davis’ tip-in, to seize a 20-15 edge.
Michigan State later extended its cushion to 27-20 on a pair of free throws by Alan Anderson with around four minutes remaining in the opening stanza. The Quakers got within four on Begley’s three-pointer, but the Spartans scored the final five points of the half and carried a 32-23 edge into the locker room.
Anderson and Davis each scored six points for MSU, while Schiffner led the Quakers with seven points in the opening 20 minutes.
Torbert’s jumper with just over 12 minutes left in the game staked Michigan State to a 40-29 edge. The Spartans then ran off eight of the next 11 points, culminated by a Davis layup, and the cushion ballooned to 48-32.
The Quakers closed the gap to nine at 56-47 on Begley’s three-pointer with around six minutes left, but Michigan State would not allow the game to get any closer.
Michigan State ended the game on a 21-5 surge to turn the game into a rout.
