Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote wanted to talk about the Spartan's fastbreak offense, Penn State Coach Bruce Parkhill about the look in the eyes of the Lion basketball team at halftime and John Amaechi about a lackluster performance.

Dan Earl didn't want to talk.

When senior Lion center Amaechi offered the microphone to his teammate in the postgame interview room for any last responses, a speechless and somber Earl declined. The effects of a 68-53 loss to the No. 7 Spartans (17-3, 9-2 Big Ten) Saturday at Rec Hall wore heavy on the sophomore point guard, for he had broken the knot at 24 late in the first half but did little else afterward.

Earl drilled a long jumper from the right, a shot two of the game's officials signaled as a three-pointer, but one the scoreboard operators counted as two. A review before the start of the second half boosted a three-point halftime lead to four, 32-28.

Earl played 37 minutes but was held to four points by Eric Snow, a fierce defender, who guarded him man-to-man. Earl limited his shooting to the perimeter, firing each of his seven field-goal attempts from three-point range.

"Some days you hit 'em," Earl said, "some days you don't."

On this day, the Spartans epitomized the former, shooting an outstanding 72 percent from the field (30-for-56) and outscoring Penn State 40-21 in the second half.

"I think we turned the heat up on the fast break in the second half, and in the first five or six minutes scored enough fast-break baskets to make the difference in the game," Heathcote said. "Both games, Penn State had a lot of open shots and they just did not make those shots."

The Lions (13-7, 5-6) struggled from the field with a season-low 32.1 percent performance (18-of-56). Forward Glenn Sekunda went 0-for-6, guard Rahsaan Carlton 0-for-4 and Earl 0-for-3 in the second half. Amaechi was the only Lion to score in double figures, with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Michigan State used an 8-0 run at the start of the second half and proceeded to outscore the Lions 37-11 in the first 15 minutes for a 65-43 lead. Shawn Respert, the Big Ten's leading scorer and national player-of-the-year candidate, scored a three-point bomb from 20-plus feet to cap a 15-4 run at 15 minutes, 42 seconds.

But it was the Spartans' frontcourt of Jamie Feick, Jon Garavaglia and Quinton Brooks that accounted for the early surge, scoring 10 of 15 points.

Respert led all scorers with 21 points and drilled five three-pointers, but the backcourt of Earl, Donovan Williams and Pete Lisicky kept Respert in check, forcing 8-of-18 shooting, seven turnovers and four personal fouls.

However, it was Snow, Respert's underpublicized backcourt mate, who dictated the frenzied second-half pace. Snow led the fast break, scoring eight points and dishing six assists to finish with 10 points, a game-high 13 assists and only two turnovers.

Where the Lions failed defensively in the second half, they succeeded in the first. Parkhill's slow, methodical offense gave the Lions a 32-28 halftime lead despite shooting only 33 percent from the field.

"At halftime, I stopped them when they were coming out of the locker room because they looked like they were down 30 points at the half, and I just couldn't understand it," Parkhill said. "I asked them if they really wanted this game.

"Sometimes you can't tell. Sometimes you think they're not ready and they're ready. Sometimes you think they're ready and they're not."

The Lions have been more of the latter lately, dropping their second in a row and the fourth in five games. But like Earl, Parkhill has no answers.