Spartans demolish Buckeyes inside in Big Ten quarterfinal

If there is one trait that characterizes Tom Izzo’s Michigan State teams, it’s physical play down low. If there’s one thing that has plagued the Buckeyes since Jared Sullinger left, it’s the lack of a consistent, effective shotblocker or post presence. In the Big Ten quarterfinals on Friday night, Michigan State ran Ohio State up and down the floor, collecting a bunch of easy layups and dunks as they used the extra pass and team basketball to end OSU’s Big Ten tourney run by a 76-67 margin.

In all honesty, the Spartans had the three best performances on the court on Friday night, and that alone could explain away why the scarlet and gray were not able to exact revenge from a Valentine’s Day loss in East Lansing by three points. Denzell Valentine, a third team all-Big Ten player that Ohio State has to consider under-awarded at this point, led the charge with his 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals on 9-of-14 shooting as he mixed his game up inside and out. Ohio State had absolutely no defensive answer for him. Branden Dawson added an equally impressive effort with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. Even with the star work from Valentine and Dawson, the Bucks were right in the game and may have been able to hang around until the end of the game if not for Travis Trice’s scoring barrage. Trice rattled off eight of his 18 points in quick succession with a pair of triples and a layup through the heart of the OSU defense that broke their will after they cut the lead to just six and gave Sparty its largest lead of the game at 17.

It was another rough showing for D’Angelo Russell against the Spartans. Though he finished with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, a couple of those baskets came with the outcome already decided as Russell had just eight points in the first 28-plus minutes of the game. Russell’s rough evening forced more shots once again for Shannon Scott. It was, unfortunately, not a repeat of Thursday’s career high of 21 points. Scott hit just 4-of-13 shots (3-of-6 threes) for 13 points along with five rebounds, nine assists, and two steals. Sam Thompson also added 13 points, shooting just 3-for-10 but somehow making 7-of-8 freebies. Jae’Sean added eight points and eight rebounds, while Loving took only three shots and managed three points.

In another dazzling performance by Amir Williams, he did score seven points but managed just one rebound in 13 minutes. It was Trey McDonald who got the majority of the center minutes, pulling down eight rebounds in 19 minutes. Adding it up, that meant the Buckeyes played about one fifth of the game going incredibly small without Anthony Lee once again. The Spartans wound up with far too many wide open looks from two feet and in as the extra pass and slow rotation of the Ohio State zone after the first shot or first reversal did them in.

The Buckeyes trailed 29-13 in the first half with 6:40 remaining, but they managed to cut the deficit to just eight at intermission. Trice’s eight points in 91 seconds and 15 second half points put the Buckeyes out of reach once again. In the final moments, OSU rallied once more after Marc Loving’s only basket of the game cut the hole to just five with 3:07 to play. However, they were never able to get any closer and a reversed out of bounds call when down eight sealed their fate.

You name a statistical category, and I’ll show you a Michigan State advantage. They steamrolled the Buckeyes in the paint by a 40-26 margin. They had more points off turnovers (11-8), fastbreak points (12-6), and second chance points (13-10). They got 15 bench points against just seven for Ohio State. The Buckeyes simply had no answer for Sparty sharing the ball and cutting without the basketball. Every shot that Michigan State took was a good one or at least an open one. They had 23 assists on their 29 field goals, and they turned it over just eight times. Combine all of that with shooting 48% for the game and 52% in the second half, and the Buckeyes were in over their head in terms of making up the difference.

Next up for the Buckeyes is the NCAA tournament. Seeding and destination will come on Sunday afternoon, but many project the scarlet and gray as landing in the dreaded 8/9 game, a doomed scenario for this team that would pair them with a No. 1 seed in the second round. At this point, however, expecting more than one win regardless of second round opponent is a fool’s bet.