EAST LANSING, Mich. — Penn State had taken a 22-point deficit and turned it into a five-point deficit.

In a matter of only a few minutes, the deficit was 23 points.

No. 11 Michigan State became the latest team to take advantage of the Nittany Lions’ inconsistent play Wednesday, pulling away — twice — for a 77-57 win in the Breslin Center.

The last-place Nittany Lions (10-15, 2-10 Big Ten) have lost five straight games and eight of the last nine.

“We compete for stretches, but we need to compete for 40 minutes,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “We need to do that soon and time is running out.”

Michigan State, which had some inconsistent stretches of its own, went to its go-to player when it needed him to dash Penn State’s comeback hopes.

Draymond Green had 23 points and 12 rebounds and made some timely shots after Penn State had pulled within 52-47 with just over nine minutes remaining on a jumper by Jermaine Marshall.

“He’s supposed to do that,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “And, we’re supposed to get him the ball.”

The Spartans (19-5, 8-3) are a game behind conference-leading and third-ranked Ohio State, setting up a big game Saturday on the road against the Buckeyes.

“It’s huge for us and it’s huge for them,” Green said. “We’ll prepare like it’s an NCAA tournament game.”

Michigan State’s Adreian Payne matched a career high with 12 points and freshman Branden Dawson also had 12, scoring in double figures for the fifth straight game.

Tim Frazier scored 19 on 6 of 18 shooting and had seven assists with six turnovers for the Nittany Lions, who got 12 points from Marshall, who came off the bench, and nine points from Nick Colella, who connected on three 3-pointers in his first career start.