Michigan State's offense stifled as Spartans fall to confident Buckeyes, 68-58, in Big Ten Tournament opener

Michigan State’s attempt at a three-game season sweep of Ohio State came up short Friday afternoon at the United Center, as the Spartans fell to a confident Buckeyes team, 68-58, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. 

Michigan State’s red-hot shooting fell flat against Ohio State, who were without standout freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh. The Spartans shot 38.2 percent from the field and just 18.8 percent from three-point range. 

Meanwhile, a young Ohio State team shot 44.6 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three. The Buckeyes controlled the pace of the game with a methodical offense and disruptive defense.

“We’re not happy with it; we came here to win a championship,” said Michigan State senior forward Joey Hauser. “It felt like a letdown today. We have to turn around and focus our attention on the NCAA Tournament. We have to get it figured out and get locked in.”

Similar to the way Michigan State held off the Buckeyes the last time these teams met just six days ago, the Spartans never made things uncomfortable for an Ohio State team that was playing its third game in three days. 

“I just didn’t think we brought it,” said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. “We just couldn’t buy some (shots). I said for three weeks our defense hasn’t been very good and it would get you in a tournament so I guess my experience gave the answer.”

Ohio State has won five of its last six games. Its only loss in that stretch came to Michigan State at the Breslin Center on March 4.

“Some blame goes to us on how we played,” Izzo said. “A lot of credit goes to Ohio State and the job he (Chris Holtmann) did in getting them to compete like they did. They made some shots, man.”

With the win, Ohio State became the first team in Big Ten Tournament history to make the semifinals after beginning the tournament on Wednesday. Michigan State will head back to East Lansing two days before Selection Sunday. The Spartans are projected to earn a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, per ESPN.

“It was good that we just played them (last Saturday),” said Ohio State forward Justice Sueing. “We had a good feel for them. Coming in, we had to make those adjustments, especially on transition defense. We had a lot of confidence going in, especially from just playing them.”

The opening games of the NCAA Tournament begin next Tuesday. Michigan State is expected to play Thursday or Friday.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Four of Michigan State’s five starters finished in double figures. After A.J. Hoggard’s slow start, in which the junior point guard was repeatedly benched to have long conversations with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Hoggard scored 10 second-half points to lead the Spartans on an 8-2 run late in the game. 

“Energy is a funny thing,” Izzo said. “Sometimes when you start playing better offensively, we got casual defensively and you saw that one stretch when we weren’t. That should be 40 minutes of that. That falls on me. So I’m going to find some guys that want to do that for 40 minutes.

“Today we didn’t (find guys who played hard for 40 minutes) and the better team won. They outplayed us in every aspect.”

Hauser finished as the Spartans’ leading scorer with 15 points. Jaden Akins and Tyson Walker also contributed 10 points each. Mady Sissoko added six points and three rebounds in an aggressive all-around performance. 

Michigan State turned the ball over eight times to Ohio State’s five. Ohio State scored six points off of those eight turnovers. Michigan State outrebounded the Buckeyes, 35-33. 

“Obviously we could have some legs that are a little bit fatigued but more than anything, confidence trumps fatigued legs,” Holtmann said. “As far as the tempo is concerned, I felt like we needed a game … I thought we were efficient on offense.”

The Spartans did not get much production out of their bench, with the second unit going a combined 2-of-13 from the floor. Malik Hall scored three points, all on free throws, while shooting 0-of-6 from the field. He grabbed four rebounds in the loss. 

Freshman point guard Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes in scoring with 21 points. He also added six assists and four rebounds. 

Fellow freshman Roddy Gayle, Jr. scored 15 points and Sueing scored 14.

TURNING POINT

Gayle, Jr. went on a personal 7-2 run at the 4:27 mark to all but extinguish Michigan State’s attempts at a late comeback. 

Gayle, Jr. was fouled by Hauser with 4:27 to play. The freshman guard made both free throws to extend the Buckeye lead to eight, 58-50. 

Michigan State held Ohio State scoreless over its next two possessions, but the Spartans couldn’t get anything going either. Then, with 3:13 remaining, Gayle, Jr. hit a deep, contested NBA-range three that essentially iced the game for Ohio State. 

The Buckeyes went up 61-50 after that shot. 

Akins responded by dribbling around a screen to the free throw line and hitting a pull-up jumper on the next Michigan State possession. But Gayle, Jr. answered with a quick layup on the other end to cap his seven-point stretch. That made it 63-52 Ohio State with 2:11 to play. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Ohio State seemed to have an answer for all of Michigan State’s punches. The Spartans rebounded from a poor first half with an increased sense of urgency out of halftime, but it was not enough to ever take the lead. 

The Spartans began the half on a 10-3 run to force a Buckeye timeout with 16:25 to play. One possession earlier, Sissoko reached way up to block a Thornton layup attempt. Hoggard recovered the loose ball and drove all the way to the other end of the court, finishing a scoop layup high off the glass. 

That cut Ohio State’s lead to two, 36-34, with 16:35 to play.

But Ohio State regrouped well out of the timeout to extend its lead back to eight after a few quick three-pointers from Thornton and Sueing. Sueing’s three marked his first points since the 14:23 of the first half.

Ohio State extended its lead even further thanks to a 12-5 run after Hauser hit a tough fall away jumper inside the free throw line with 13:20 remaining. Ohio State got contributions from four different players over that five-minute stretch, which extended the Buckeye lead to 54-41 with 7:37 to play.

FIRST HALF

Michigan State began the first half as hot as it ended its previous game against Ohio State on March 4. The Spartans opened the game shooting 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from three, thanks in part to Walker and Hauser. 

Walker hit a long two off the dribble to give Michigan State a 9-5 lead with 15:43 remaining in the half. He did some chirping after that basket, and Michigan State looked like a confident, well-rested team. 

It appeared Michigan State might pull away early after going up 9-7 through the first five minutes of the game, but Ohio State was the more aggressive and confident team for the remainder of the first half.

The Buckeys outscored Michigan State 26-15 over the last 15:15 of the half to take a 33-24 lead into halftime. 

The Spartans went 0-of-7 from three point range after their hot start, a far cry from the high percentages they displayed over the last five games of the regular season. 

The turnover and rebounding margins were both within one at the break, but Ohio State managed the game at a methodical pace, deliberate in its offensive sets and disruptive on the defensive end. 

Sueing was Ohio State’s MVP of the half, logging eight points, two assists and two rebounds in the first 20 minutes. He hit two first-half threes and found a cutting Felix Okpara on a bounce pass in the post, which led to Okpara’s emphatic dunk to extend the lead to 24-17 with 7:04 remaining.