18th ranked Michigan State came to Columbus winners of 6 straight and 9 out of 10 and after building a 14 point second half lead, Ohio State went on a 15-2 run to regain the lead at the 8 minute mark, but an 8-0 Spartan run put Michigan State ahead for good giving the Spartans got a huge road win, downing the Buckeyes, stopping their 3 game winning streak by a final score of 69-62. The Buckeyes closed to within 2 in the final minutes, but could not get any closer as the free throw line wasn’t kind in the comeback attempt and the Spartans made enough of theirs to finish off the win.  Ohio State shot just 36.7% from the floor, making only 7 of 27 three’s, while Michigan State hit 43.6% and just 3 of 18 from long range. Each team turned it over an astounding 16 times, but a 38-22 advantage in the paint and the free throw shooting for Michigan State, hitting 18-22 while the Buckeyes made just 11 of 16, was the difference. Szymon Zapala led Michigan State with 15, while Jaden Akins added 14 and Coen Carr chipped in 11. Micah Parrish led Ohio State with 13 and Bruce Thornton added 10 in the defeat. Ohio State drops to 9-5 and 1-2 in Big Ten play, while Michigan State improves to 12-2 and 3-0 in the conference.

Michigan State scored the first 4 of the game before Ohio State got on the board with a John Mobley leaner from the right wing. The Buckeyes went in front when Micah Parrish drilled a three from the top, but the Spartans answered to take a 6-5 lead into the first media timeout as all 6 Michigan State points came from the paint. The Spartans hit the stripe out of the timeout and split the pair and after another Spartan bucket, Ques Glover hit a pull up transition jumper from 12 to stop the 5-0 Michigan State run. Back to back buckets from Aaron Bradshaw put Ohio State back on top and after a Devin Royal steal led to a Bruce Thornton lay in, Ohio State was on an 8-0 run. The run was halted when a heavily defended late in the shot clock triple fell for Michigan State and at the under 12, Ohio State led 13-12, but Thornton headed to the locker room with a pair of members of the training staff.  Facing a Buckeye zone out of the timeout, the Spartans scored at the rim to shift back in front, but Ohio State answered on the other end when Royal banked in a runner. The Spartans tied it when 1 of 2 free throws fell and regained the lead with a bucket at the rim.The Buckeyes got even when Evan Mahaffey tipped in a Mobley miss in transition, but an old-fashioned three point play on the other end put Michigan State back in front. A Buckeye turnover led to a pair of Spartan free throws to put the Spartans up 5. Ohio State cut into the lead when Royal split a pair of free throws, but a triple on the other end extended Michigan State’s advantage. Glover answered with a three of his own, but a Spartan jumper dropped on the other end and at the under 8, Michigan State led 27-21, having made 6 straight shots. Michigan State scored after an offensive rebound to extend the lead, but Royal knocked down a pair of free throws on the other end to answer. Michigan State got away with an over the back on the offensive end and converted two free throws extending the lead, but a Bradshaw bucket off the window and a Parrish runner cut the deficit to 4 and at the under 4, Ohio State trailed the Spartans 31-27. The Buckeye run went to 6-0 when Royal hit a runner off the window, but the Spartans answered with a 6-0 run of their own to end the half with a 37-29 Spartan advantage. Ohio State had a rough shooting first half, hitting just 37.5%, knocking down just 2 of 15 from long range, while the Spartans hit 48%, but only 2 of 11 from three. The rebounds were relatively even with Michigan State holding a 2 rebound advantage, while the difference was the free throw line where Michigan State made 9 of 11 compared to just 3 of 4 for Ohio State. Each team turned it over 9 times apiece in a somewhat sloppy first half for both sides. Szymon Zapala led Michigan State with 9, while Devin Royal led Ohio State with 7. The Spartan defense was the story of the first half, doubling Ohio State every time they got the ball in the post and heavily defending the perimeter making it difficult for the Buckeyes to get many great looks from the outside. 

Six straight Spartan points to open the second half forced a red hot Jake Diebler to call a timeout as the Spartan run had gone to 12-0 and a 43-29 lead with 18.16 left in the game. A Glover triple stopped the bleeding and cut the deficit to 11, but a bucket on the other end answered. A pair of Bradshaw free throws cut into the lead and after a defensive stop, Thornton got into the lane and was fouled rising for a short jumper which led to the under 16 media timeout with Michigan State leading 45-34. Thornton split the free throws out of the timeout to trim the deficit to 10. A Buckeye turnover led to a Spartan lay in, but a Thornton step back jumper from 17 got the Buckeyes back on the board and after a Royal steal, Thornton was fouled attempting a three. Bruce bagged all three freebies to trim the deficit to 7 with 12:29 to play. After a Spartan miss, Ohio State got out in transition where Glover was fouled attacking the rim and at the line, he split the pair and the Buckeyes were down just 6. On the ensuing possession, Sean Stewart poked the ball free into the backcourt and chased down the loose ball and flushed it home forcing Tom Izzo to take a timeout with 11:58 left in the game and the Buckeyes having scored 8 straight to trail by just 4, 47-43. The Spartans ended the run out of the timeout as an offensive rebound created a second chance, but a Stewart rebound and score answered on the other end. After a defensive stop and a Royal offensive rebound, Mobley banged down a  triple to cut the deficit to 1 and the Buckeyes regained their first lead since midway through the first half when Thornton drilled a 15 foot jumper after a Spartan turnover stopped the clock, the under 8 minute media timeout was called with Ohio State enjoying a 15-2 run to lead 50-49. The Spartans regained the lead with an 8-0 run forcing Jake Diebler to call a timeout with 6:01 to play and Michigan State now leading 57-50. Coming out of the timeout, Parrish hit a 15 foot jumper to stop the run and after a defensive stop, Parrish nailed a three from the left wing to cut the lead to 2. A Spartan bucket answered. Thornton missed a front end attempting to cut back into the deficit and Michigan State made a pair and after a Buckeye turnover, the final media timeout of the game was called with the Spartans leading 61-55. Parrish drilled another three to trim the Spartan lead to 3 with 3 minutes to play, but a bucket on the other end quieted the crowd. Ohio State got back to the line and Royal made the first but missed the second as Ohio State’s comeback attempt was once again thwarted by a missed free throw. The Spartans made a pair of free throws on their end to extend the lead to 6 with 1:23 to play. The Buckeyes turned it over and a foul put the Spartans back on the stripe where they split the pair. Mobley hit a three from the left point and Jake Diebler took a timeout with 46.3 seconds to play and Michigan State leading 66-62. The Buckeyes began to play the foul game but Michigan State made a pair and when Thornton missed a three point attempt, a foul sent the Spartans back to the line where one of two dropped. Parrish missed a three point attempt ending the game as Michigan State ran out the final seconds in a tough home loss for the Buckeyes. 

For a team that has designs on competing for the top of the Big Ten, Ohio State could not afford to lose at home. Although Michigan State came in with a lofty record, their strength of schedule was not typical of a Spartan squad so the record was a bit deceiving. However, on this night, Michigan State was the aggressor from the tip and although Ohio State made a charge to take a lead with 8 minutes left, turnovers and missed free throws ended all hope of coming away with the win. As always, Michigan State is well coached and came in with a winning game plan and executed it well enough to hold off the scrappy Buckeyes, but at the end of the day, this was one Ohio State had to have at home before a big crowd and not being able to get the win is a tough pill to swallow. Forcing 16 Spartan turnovers was a positive but playing a Tom Izzo coached team, you can’t turn it over 16 times yourself if you want to win the basketball game. Combine that with poor free throw shooting and it’s not a recipe for winning. Despite all of that and not playing their best, they still had a chance to win late but the lack of poise, forcing some bad shots and turnovers ultimately cost them in the final minutes. There is still a long way to go and plenty of time to overcome a home loss in what will be a very balanced conference, but they will have to be better in all phases moving forward. Clearly the Kentucky win illustrates this team can win big games, but the consistency of good play is something they are still searching for as they move forward in a tough January slate.  

It will be a quick turn around for the Buckeyes, hitting the road to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota on Monday evening. Tip time is scheduled for 9 PM and airing on FS1.

-Jason Harris

Photo Credit: Detroit Free Press