GAME NOTES: The Michigan State Spartans aim to continue their series dominance over the Penn State Nittany Lions when the two teams meet up on Wednesday night for a Big Ten Conference tussle inside the Breslin Center.

Michigan State is 33-7 all-time against Penn State, and that includes a 20-1 mark in East Lansing.

However, the Spartans enter this matchup hoping to rebound from Saturday's 75-59 setback at No. 13 Maryland, which snapped a three-game win streak. The Spartans are 3-2 in conference play, with both losses coming against the nationally-ranked Terrapins. They have fared well at home this season, winning eight of 10 at the Breslin Center.

Penn State entered its league schedule riding a 10-game win streak, but has since lost five straight against Big Ten foes. Most recently, the Nittany Lions were on the wrong end of an 84-77 overtime final against Purdue last Saturday. Still, despite their recent slide, their 12 wins are the program's most to this point in a season since 2008-09.

Penn State's D.J. Newbill had it going on against Purdue, finishing with a Bryce Jordan Center-record 37 points, most for a PSU player since 1965 and also a season-high for any Big Ten player. The senior guard leads the conference in scoring and ranks fourth in the nation with 21.7 ppg. But as was again the case Saturday against the Boilermakers, Newbill has not gotten very much help from his supporting cast since the start of league play.

He was the Nittany Lions' lone player in double figures for the game, and he is the only player on the team averaging double figures in the scoring column this season. PSU never trailed in the second half of Saturday's game, but Purdue's Kendall Stephens hit a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, where the Boilermakers took control.

Michigan State has a few players who have been getting it done at the offensive end this season, led by Denzel Valentine with 13.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Travis Trice is next with 13.8 points and 5.8 assists per tilt, followed by Branden Dawson (11.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and Bryn Forbes (9.7 ppg). While Dawson anchors the paint, the trio of Valentine, Trice and Forbes have combined to shoot 43 percent from the perimeter (120-of-281).

But after improving their scoring total from each of the previous three games, the Spartans came back down to earth against the same Maryland squad they lost to in double-overtime a couple of weeks earlier. In Saturday's rematch, Maryland made 11 3-pointers and went 20-of-22 at the foul line, while MSU shot just 3-of-17 out on the perimeter (.176) and 4-of-13 at the charity stripe (.308). Dawsen notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards to go along with four blocks, but his efforts down low were simply not enough to overcome the Spartans' off night shooting the ball.

Both teams enter this tilt bearing identical 12-6 records, albeit headed in different directions at present. The Nittany Lions have been in tight battles with each of their last four opponents, but they have been unable to get over the hump in close games.