Penn State built a 12-point halftime lead and was able to hang on during a sloppy second half to beat Michigan State 72-63 on Saturday in the first Big Ten Conference game ever at the Palestra in Philadelphia.

Leading up to the game, Spartans coach Tom Izzo had said playing at the Palestra was a "bucket list venue," but he might be rethinking that after the Spartans (11-5, 3-1 Big Ten) suffered their first conference loss of the season.

Lamar Stevens, who came in averaging 12.1 points per game, led four Penn State players in double figures with 18 points. Tony Carr added 14 points and Payton Banks and Mike Watkins each had 11 points. Watkins also led the Nittany Lions with seven boards.

The Spartans were led by Nick Ward's 16 points. Lorawls Nairn added 13 points off the bench.

Penn State (10-7, 2-2) trailed only in the opening moments and held a double-digit lead throughout. The Spartans never were able to get untracked on offense and never really threatened after falling behind early.

The Spartans connected on only 41.1 percent of their field-goal attempts (23 of 56) for the game after going 13 of 29 in the first half.

The Nittany Lions made only eight second-half field goals after going 18 of 30 in the first half.

With a little more than three minutes to go, Michigan State had a golden opportunity to close the deficit to its smallest since early in the first half, but the offense failed and Penn State's defense came up big.

Alvin Ellis III made a 3-point jumper to pull the Spartans within six at 61-55. On their next possession, Watkins stymied Ellis with superb backside help, and Ellis missed a layup. Penn State extended the lead back to double digits and give coach Pat Chambers his first win against Izzo and the Spartans.

Michigan State took an early 2-0 lead -- its only advantage of the game. The Nittany Lions looked comfortable at the Palestra and opened up a six-point lead at 12-6 on a Watkins layup.

At 16-14, the Nittany Lions went on a 12-5 run to a 28-19 lead. A 3-pointer by Banks gave Penn State a 32-25 lead with under four minutes to play in the half.

Ward's jumper, the Spartans' last score of the half, cut the lead to 39-32.

The win was Penn State's first against Michigan State since an 11-point victory on March 12, 2011, in the Big Ten tournament.