Adreian Payne scored 12 points in his return from a foot injury, and No. 9 Michigan State kept pace atop the Big Ten with an 82-67 victory over Penn State on Thursday night.
Payne hadn't played since Jan. 7 because of a sprained foot, but although he didn't start Thursday, he did play 18 minutes, going 5 of 9 from the field. The Spartans (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) were still nowhere near full strength.
Kenny Kaminski scored a career-high 19 points for the Spartans. Tim Frazier scored 22 points for Penn State (12-11, 3-7), which had its three-game winning streak snapped.