Cleaves Makes Winning Shot for Michigan State

Mateen Cleaves dribbled in on a defender with a few seconds to play and made a leaning 10-foot shot as eighth-ranked Michigan State escaped with a 70-68 victory over Penn State on Tuesday night at State College, Pa.

Cleaves’ winning shot came after he and Coach Tom Izzo debated which play to run with the game tied, 68-68, with 12 seconds left. Izzo wanted him to run a high post screen and hit a forward with a cross-court pass. Cleaves wanted to spread the offense and take the last shot himself.

“Like a good coach would do, I went with the player,” Izzo said. “He had the ball in his hands at the end, which is what we want, and he got the job done.”

Cleaves, who scored with .4 seconds left, had 14 points and five assists in the Spartans’ eighth straight victory, while Morris Peterson scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half.

Michigan State is 19-4 overall and leads the Big Ten with an 8-1 record.

Calvin Booth had 18 points and eight rebounds for Penn State (10-10, 2-8), which has lost seven of eight games--including four at home to ranked opponents by a total of 11 points. Penn State lost to No. 21 Indiana, 98-95, in double overtime on Sunday.

No. 23 Arkansas 69, Tennessee 52--Pat Bradley scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Razorbacks (16-6, 5-4) beat the suddenly cold-shooting Volunteers (14-6, 6-3) in a Southeastern Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark.

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Iowa State’s Marcus Fizer, the Big 12’s leading scorer with a 17.5 average, had a career-high 32 points but Oklahoma State (16-5, 7-2) came away with an 81-72 victory over the Cyclones (13-9, 4-5) at Stillwater, Okla. . . . Justin Gainey made a three-point shot with 14.6 seconds remaining to put North Carolina State (14-8, 4-6) ahead, then made a key defensive play at the end to seal the Wolfpack’s 51-50 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Georgia Tech (13-9, 4-6) at Atlanta.

In a Western Athletic Conference game played late Monday night at Albuquerque, No. 20 Utah (17-4, 7-0) celebrated its return to the Top 25 by defeating No. 17 New Mexico, 57-39. The 39 points for the Lobos (17-5, 4-3) is their lowest point total at home since 1984. New Mexico had won 16 in a row at home this season and were 68-2 in The Pit since 1996. Utah’s Alex Jensen had 14 points and 13 rebounds.