After a huge win at home against No. 24 Wisconsin Wednesday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes (17-10, 9-7) made the trip to East Lansing to take on the No. 15 Michigan State Spartans (22-5, 12-4). After a back and forth game, the shorthanded Buckeyes fell 66-60.
The Buckeyes were missing some key players in this one, as John Mobley Jr. and Brandon Noel are still out due to injury and Devin Royal was out of the starting lineup due to illness. That is three starters from the opening day lineup.
Advertisement
It was an ugly first half from an offensive standpoint, with both teams struggling to knock down a shot early. Michigan State jumped out to an early 9-6 lead after a Kur Teng three-pointer.
After the Teng bucket, the Buckeyes went on a 12-3 run to take an 18-12 lead. The Buckeyes and Spartans traded baskets for the rest of the opening half and the Buckeyes led 26-23 after the first 20 minutes.
in the first half, Bruce Thornton all scorers with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting. He added two steals. For the Spartans, Carson Cooper had six points, while Kur Teng and Coen Carr had five points. Leading scorer Jeremy Fears was held to zero points on 0-for-4 shooting in the opening half. He did record four assists.
Ohio State was 1-for-9 from three-point range in the first half while Michigan State was 2-for-9. Thornton had the Buckeyes lone three-pointer.
Advertisement
Ohio State won the turnover battle 7-3 in the first half, but Michigan State won the rebounding battle 22-15. However, Michigan State secured the first seven rebounds so it was 15-15 from that point on.
In the second half, the Buckeyes scoring was more versatile to start, with Thornton, Colin White and Taison Chatman recording buckets as the Buckeyes took a 33-28 lead. Two Carson Cooper free throws and a bucket made the Buckeyes lead 33-32 at the under-16 media timeout.
Taison Chatman fouled Aaron Scott shooting a three-pointer and he made two of the three to give the Spartans their first lead since the score was 9-8. After another basket from Cam Ward, Michigan State took a 36-33 lead to go on a 11-2 run.
Ivan Njegovan got an offensive rebound and knocked down two free-throws to stop the Spartan run and pull Ohio State to within one point.
Advertisement
Two three-pointers from Thornton and Chatman gave Ohio State the lead again at 41-40 and a Christoph Tilly fadeaway jumper pushed the lead out to 43-40, forcing a Tom Izzo timeout.
Two fouls from Ohio State in ten seconds put Michigan State in the bonus with nine minutes remaining in the game.
Both teams continued to trade baskets, but the Buckeyes lack of firepower became evident late in the contest as the Spartans went on a 14-6 run to turn a 45-45 tie into a 59-51 lead at the under four timeout.
That was the run the Spartans needed to put the Buckeyes away and despite a late push from Ohio State, Michigan State won 66-60.
Advertisement
Here are the players and moments that made the podium in this game.
Gold: Bruce Thornton
It feels like the low hanging fruit, but Thornton has been the guy all season for Ohio State and he was the guy again today. He had 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the first half and was the sole reason the Buckeyes had the lead. He was responsible for a third of the Buckeyes points in this game and was the reason this was not a hige blow out with Mobley and Royal out. He finished with 32 points on 12-for-22 shooting from the field.
He also passed Herb Williams for the second leading scorer in Ohio State men’s basketball history. Not bad.
Advertisement
Silver: Effort
I sounds cliche and there are certainly no moral victories in February, but with three starters out in this game and playing a top 15 team on the road, the expectations were not high coming into this one.
But some bench payers played well and Bruce Thornton was Bruce Thornton and the Buckeyes were in this game for 35 minutes. At the end of the day, a loss is a loss, but there is reason to be optimistic about this team as long as they get healthy down the stretch.
Bronze: Ivan Njegovan
The backup center Njegovan has had an up and down season, but he was great in this contest. He recorded six points and three rebounds in minutes played, with going 2-for-2 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He was also physical on defense with Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler. With the players that were out for Ohio State, they needed someone from the bench to provide valuable minutes and he did just that.
