Despite a valiant comeback effort, Ohio State saw its late-season momentum snuffed out in the final game before postseason play.
Following back-to-back double-digit wins over the past week, the Buckeyes hung tough but came up short on the road against the Spartans on Saturday as Michigan State notched an 84-78 Senior Day victory to sweep the season series with the scarlet and gray.
| Team | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 34 | 44 | 78 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 43 | 41 | 84 |
The Buckeyes surrendered a 17-2 run from 19:29 to 13:41 in the first half that put them down double digits in the early going. Ohio State battled back from there to make it a close game, cutting the Spartan lead to just two possessions on multiple occasions. Every time Michigan State threatened to pull away, the Buckeyes had an answer to stay in it.
Ohio State even cut it to a three-point game with 5:40 to go, but ultimately couldn’t muster enough of a late push to get over the hump. The Spartans gashed Ohio State time and time again from beyond the arc and on the fastbreak, and five Michigan State players finished in double figures before all was said and done.
Bruce Thornton (20 points) put forth another standout effort for Ohio State, his fourth straight with at least 10 points, and Brice Sensabaugh dropped 21 to lead OSU. But the Buckeyes struggled to get stops on the other end as Michigan State enjoyed a stellar shooting performance on its home floor.
First Half
Things got ugly early for the Buckeyes. Ohio State scored on its first two possessions, but then missed its next eight shots in a row as Michigan State rattled off 15 unanswered points. The Buckeyes didn’t score for nearly seven minutes of game time as the Spartans mounted a 17-4 lead.
Ohio State fired back with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 8-2 stretch to cut the deficit down to seven points at the 10:23 mark, but the Spartans responded with two triples of their own to go back up 11 just two minutes later.
The Buckeyes continued to hang tough, though, stringing together a 7-0 run to make it a four-point game by 6:39, and still only trailed by seven at the media timeout with four minutes to go.
Spartan guard Jaden Akins scored six straight points by himself to give Michigan State another double-digit lead with 3:15 to play, but the Buckeyes cut it back to six as Thornton and Sensabaugh combined to score the final eight Ohio State points down the stretch.
Michigan State hit the final shot of the half to take a 43-34 lead into halftime after knocking down eight 3-pointers and exercising a 17-2 edge in fastbreak points. The Spartans also outscored Ohio State 8-0 in points off turnovers and held the advantage in rebounding, assists and bench points.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MICHIGAN STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 78 | POINTS | 84 |
| 28-58 (48.3%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 29-53 (54.7%) |
| 11-25 (44%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 12-20 (60%) |
| 11-12 (91.7%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 14-20 (70%) |
| 8 | TURNOVERS | 8 |
| 29 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 29 |
| 7 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 6 |
| 22 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 23 |
| 19 | BENCH POINTS | 20 |
| 3 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 6 | STEALS | 2 |
| 15 | ASSISTS | 17 |
Thornton led the way with 10 first-half points for the Buckeyes, but Michigan State shot 22.3% better than Ohio State from the floor to take a three-possession lead into the intermission.
Second Half
Ohio State came out hot to start the second half, knocking down its first four shots in a row to tighten the Michigan State gap. Sensabaugh hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of that stretch, and the Buckeyes came within six points of the Spartans by the first timeout of the period.
But the Spartans only missed one of their first six shots in their own right, and by the time they hit their 10th 3-pointer of the game at the 13:09 mark, they were already back up by 10 points.
Michigan State was on the cusp of pulling away with a 12-point edge as the clock ticked under 12 minutes, but once again, the Buckeyes refused to go away. Sean McNeil followed a Eugene Brown dunk with a 3-point make to stay within striking distance.
Then the Buckeyes turned things up a notch. A 7-0 run in a little over a minute allowed Ohio State to cut the Spartan deficit to just three points with 5:40 to play.
But the Buckeyes couldn’t close the gap from there. MSU stars Joey Hauser and A.J. Hoggard made multiple late plays to keep Michigan State out in front, and Ohio State left the court with a ninth straight road loss in the all-time series against the Spartans.
What's Next: The No. 13 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State will take on the No. 12 seed in a 6:30 p.m. matchup in Chicago on Wednesday.
Game Notes
- The Buckeyes started three seniors on Senior Night Wednesday, but returned to a four-freshman lineup with Justice Sueing joining Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle, Brice Sensabaugh and Felix Okpara in the starting lineup against Michigan State.
- Ohio State lost the first matchup against Michigan State this season, 62-41, in Columbus on Feb. 12. The Buckeyes’ 41 points were their fewest in a single game in 27 years.
- Saturday marked the second time in the past four years that Ohio State served as Michigan State’s Senior Day opponent at the Breslin Center. The Buckeyes lost, 80-69, in East Lansing on March 8, 2020.
- The Buckeyes lost their previous eight games at Michigan State in a row, with their last win on the road against the Spartans coming on March 4, 2012.
