The Spartans finished the game with 36 total rebounds -- 21 of them offensive,which was hardly a surprise to Spartan coach Tom Izzo.

Coming into the game, Michigan State had out-rebounded 21 of its 22 opponents this season, with only Tulsa out-rebounding the Spartans 29-27. Their plus-9.8 margin in rebounding coming into the game was tops in the Big Ten.

"We're a good offensive rebounding team," Izzo said. "Unfortunately that means we miss a lot of shots. We kept the ball alive and it maybe was one of the strengths of the evening."

Spartan forward Antonio Smith, who is No. 1 on the team and No. 4 in the conference in rebounding, with 8.1 per game, led the way with a game-high 11 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. In the Spartans' last six games, he has averaged 9.5 rebounds per game.

Izzo also credited Hutson's efforts on the boards. He finished with seven offensive rebounds, nine total.

A good example of the dominate rebounding came at the four-minute mark when Michigan State pulled down three consecutive rebounds before the ball was tipped in by Morris Peterson, giving the Spartans a 65-63 lead.

"They really earned it," said Lion coach Jerry Dunn. "They just kept bringing in athlete after athlete."

The Lions' answer to shutting down the offensive rebounds of the Spartans was center Calvin Booth, who led Penn State with five defensive rebounds, eight total.

"He did a good job and got big rebounds," Lion guard Dan Earl said. "He's been playing really well as of late. But he's a great player and I expect that from him."

Despite missing his last shot of the game, Booth helped carry the Lions in the second half, scoring 12 of his 18 points.

"Calvin became more aggressive on both ends of the floor," Dunn said. "Sure he would have liked that last one to go in, but sometimes it happens."

A couple different times in the evening, Booth used a post-up move which he would spin and drive the baseline.

"Booth is strong underneath," Izzo said. "He's such a threat when he posts up. It was a big play that Hutson did at the end. But Booth has really improved."