The Penn State men's basketball team knows all too well what Michigan State guard Drew Neitzel can do with the ball in his hands at the end of a game.

Last year in East Lansing, the Nittany Lions kept an upset of the then-No. 12 Spartans within reach, never trailing by more than five points until the final two minutes.

Then Neitzel, now a junior, hit two three-pointers to put the Spartans ahead by nine to squander any thoughts of a victory and Penn State lost, 69-60.

"As the game goes on, he gets better and his confidence seems to grow," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said of Neitzel.

At 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Bryce Jordan Center, Penn State (10-7, 1-3 Big Ten) will face the 6-foot guard and Michigan State again.

The Lions would not only like to prevent Neitzel from being in a position to take three-pointers in the clutch, but limit the Spartans (15-4, 2-2) from taking shots from behind the arc, at all.

In its past two games, Penn State has allowed a combined 55 three-point attempts. Indiana made 14 of them, the most ever given up by the Lions in Big Ten play, in its 84-74 win last Saturday. Michigan made 12 during a 77-57 defeat of Penn State two nights ago.

"We can't continue to give up high 70s and 80s," DeChellis said. "We can't let people score that many points against us."

Michigan State has two threatening three-point shooters: Neitzel, who has led the Spartans in scoring in 14 of their 19 games this season, and sophomore Maurice Joseph, who has made 43.1 percent of his shots from behind the arc.

"We can't let [Neitzel] and Joseph get off on us," DeChellis said. "We've got to find them in our zones, and if we play some man, we've got to get into them and make other guys beat us."

Also a concern for DeChellis is the Lions lack of rebounding from players not named Geary Claxton and Jamelle Cornley.

Center Brandon Hassell had two rebounds at Purdue, six against Indiana and two versus Michigan. Fellow big man Milos Bogetic combined for five rebounds in those games.

The Lions must get more production from those players, DeChellis said, as well from their guards who he said, "have to come back and rebound with two hands just like everybody else."

Michigan State ranks in the top-2 in the conference in offensive and defensive rebounds.

High praise

Earlier this week at his weekly press conference, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo likened Claxton to former Wake Forest player, Josh Howard, currently with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

"Claxton is a pro-type player," said Izzo, who last year lost three starters to the NBA. "He knows how to play the game."

Izzo also labeled the Penn State junior a "rebounding machine." Claxton leads the Big Ten with 8.3 rebounds per game.

Ready to run

For a good part of this season, the Spartans have looked unfamiliar to Izzo.

Injuries to supposed-to-be starters Raymar Morgan and Joseph caused Izzo to reign in the fast-break offense and press defense that past Spartan teams were known for.

Now with both players healthier than they have been in a month, "There's no question we've got to get back to running, we've got to get back to getting some pressure on the ball," Izzo said.