Ohio State ends year-plus road drought with comeback win at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Twelve years after William Buford hit a buzzer-beater to defeat Michigan State, Ohio State finally got its next win in the Breslin Center.

It, too, came on a buzzer beater.

After Michigan State star guard Tyson Walker went 1-of-2 from the free throw line — where his first attempt got lodged in between the rim and the glass — Devin Royal inbounded the ball, and Bruce Thornton pushed it up the court to Buckeyes graduate transfer guard Dale Bonner.

Bonner drained a contested 3-pointer from the left corner with 0.2 seconds remaining. His shot silenced the Spartans faithful and finally snapped Ohio State’s program-record, 17-game road losing streak.

Lettermen Row has Three Points from the dramatic 60-57 Ohio State victory — its first win in an opponent’s arena in 420 days, a stretch that dated back to New Year’s Day last year.

FINAL: Ohio State 60, Michigan State 57.

Dale Bonner beats the buzzer for a game-winning 3-pointer.

The #Buckeyes 420-day road drought is finally over.

First OSU road win since New Year’s Day last year. pic.twitter.com/q4K4cLDqoY

— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) February 25, 2024

Active defense helps Buckeyes hang around in first half

When Michigan State (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) started 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, it looked as if Ohio State (16-12, 6-11) — allowing a league-worst 40.5% 3-point percentage in Big Ten play this season — was going to struggle defensively in East Lansing. But the Buckeyes buckled down on that end the rest of the first half. And good thing they did because they shot a meager 24.1% from the field in the opening frame, including 1-of-10 from deep.

Not only did the Spartans make just one of their final four long-range attempts in the period, but Ohio State also held them scoreless for close to four and a half minutes. In that sequence, the Buckeyes forced four Michigan State turnovers, one of which saw Roddy Gayle Jr. jump in front of a Walker pass and take it all the way for a fastbreak dunk. Active hands helped Ohio State hang around in the first half. The Buckeyes’ three blocks and lone theft didn’t fully do that effort justice.

For instance, take Taison Chatman: The freshman guard’s deflection near the midway point of the first half contributed to Ohio State forcing a Michigan State shot clock violation. Then, later in the period, he patiently poked the ball away from Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler, stealing a defensive rebound.

But there were also possessions the Buckeyes didn’t finish defensively — as has been the case all season — like the final one of the half, where Walker beat the buzzer to kiss a layup off the glass. First Ohio State failed to secure the defensive rebound. Then Gayle missed a potential steal opportunity, as a Xavier Booker pass whizzed off the sophomore guard’s hands. Michigan State’s A.J. Hoggard recovered it and dished the ball to Walker, who got to the rack and lofted a layup over Buckeyes center Felix Okpara. That was the difference between Ohio State entering halftime down single or double digits.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they finished defensive possessions when it mattered most — in the back half of the final frame.

Without Jamison Battle, Ohio State struggles out of the gates offensively

Michigan State is usually a stiff test for Ohio State’s offense. Last year on Super Bowl Sunday, the Spartans limited the Buckeyes to a ghastly 41 points in the Schottenstein Center. Head coach Tom Izzo’s team has packed a punch defensively yet again in 2023-24, entering Sunday’s matchup 17th in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency and second in the Big Ten in points per game allowed (66.2).

A tough task became — at least what initially felt like — nearly impossible for Ohio State when Jamison Battle was ruled out. The Big Ten’s leading 3-pointer shooter, who notched his sixth game this season with five or more 3-pointers Thursday at Minnesota, was out three days later with an ankle injury at Michigan State.

Freshman wing Scotty Middleton started in place of Battle, the first change to Ohio State’s starting five all season, and Gayle and Thornton originally didn’t have the same kind of space to navigate inside the arc. The lineup of Thornton-Gayle-Middleton-Evan Mahaffey-Okpara had played only 3:54 together in Big Ten play before Sunday. From the first possession on, the Buckeyes looked a bit discombobulated in the first half, during which they shot 24.1% from the field, including an embarrassing 1-of-10 from 3-point land.

Buckeyes battle back from 12 points down, come back to beat Spartans

A second-chance bucket from Ohio State freshman forward Devin Royal pulled the Buckeyes within six points of Michigan State with 13:50 to go in the Breslin Center.

Except, when the Spartans answered with three straight transition buckets, Ohio State then found itself in an even deeper hole than its 10-point halftime deficit.

The Buckeyes — who made just seven field goals in the first half — were in danger of letting the game get away from them.

They didn’t.

Ohio State eventually got back within six points twice more during what became a 13-2 Buckeyes run. Their defense, which kept interim head coach Jake Diebler’s team afloat in the first half, came back to life. Michigan State recorded only two field goals in the span of nine minutes down the stretch of the second period.

Back-to-back jumpers from Royal — who finished with a team-high 14 points — a late shot clock and-one from Zed Key and three timely buckets from Okpara all factored in.

So did a critical pair of Roddy Gayle Jr. free throws with 31 seconds to go.

Bonner, though, was the hero at the end of the day.