Buckeyes Fall to Spartans, 74-66

The Ohio State Buckeyes got to within a single point in the second half, but Michigan State proved to be too much as they pulled away with a 74-66 win.

Michigan State got off to a red-hot start in the first half, led by Alvin Ellis III. Ellis III drilled his first five three-pointers of the game, helping his team to an early nine point advantage.

The Buckeyes were able to overcome the Spartans’ shooting, putting together a 10-0 run that gave them their first lead of the game at 24-23 with just over seven minutes left in the half.

Serious foul trouble hit for the Buckeyes as the first half wore on, and the Spartans

took advantage. As part of a 17-7 closing run, Tom Izzo’s crew took a six point lead into the locker room.

JaQuan Lyle gave the Buckeyes big minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points in the first half as Thad Matta scrambled to find answers for foul issues with his front court.

The second half began just the way the first ended, with Michigan State scoring the first four points to up their lead to 10 at 44-34. But a 12-1 run by Ohio State had them right back in the game, down a point with a little under 14 minutes to play.

That’s as close as the Buckeyes would get however.

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The deficit would balloon to as many as 11 for the Spartans. A Marc Loving three-pointer would cut the Spartans’ lead to seven with 2:30 left to play, but a dunk by Joshua Langford at the other end officially erased any hopes of a comeback by the Buckeyes.

Loving led all scorers with 22 points.

Jae’Sean Tate and Trevor Thompson scored seven and six points in only 43 combined minutes of action.

Ohio State came into the past weekend facing a crucial pair of road games. After falling flat at Maryland on Saturday, tonight’s loss in East Lansing could very well have sealed the fate of their postseason hopes.

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The Buckeyes will get back on the floor on Saturday evening when they take on Nebraska in Value City Arena. Tip off is set for 6:00.