Ohio State Basketball: Can Buckeyes rebound against Spartans?
Following the loss to Illinois the Ohio State basketball team will try to rebound against the Michigan State Spartans on the road.
When Ohio State takes on Michigan State the situation is much different from when the two teams faced each other on January 5th. The Buckeyes were 12-1 and ranked No. 14 at the time while the Spartans were 12-2 and ranked in the top 10.
Michigan State is now battling Michigan for the top spot after going through a rough stretch but Ohio State is fighting just to stay in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid.
The Spartans were cruising along undefeated in the conference until a loss to the Purdue Boilermakers started a three game slide. They righted the ship and have won their last two games.
The loss to the Spartans in January began a five game losing streak for the Buckeyes. Beginning with a win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers they won four of five games before the loss to the Fighting Illini on Thursday.
Now Ohio State will have a difficult stretch to end the season facing five ranked teams in the final seven games. Pulling out a win in East Lansing will be difficult task because Michigan State has plenty of firepower.
The leading scorers for the Spartans are Cassius Winston at 18 points per game, Nick Ward (15.4) and Joshua Langford (15.0). Matt McQuaid and Xavier Tillman are averaging over 8 ppg and Kenny Goins 7.2.
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Michigan State is averaging 81.3 points per game on 49.3 percent shooting including 38.6 percent from behind the arc.
Ohio State is led by Kaleb Wesson at 14.5 points per game, C.J Jackson (13.0), Luther Muhammad 9.8 and Andre Wesson (9.0).
The Buckeyes will have to find a way to slow down the Spartans’ offense if they want to have a chance of winning. Ohio State has only scored more than 70 points twice since the 86-77 loss to Michigan State in January and haven’t reached 80 one time during the Big Ten schedule.
It will pay Dwayne Haskins to have a strong Combine. dark. Next
This will be an important game for the Spartans as they battle the Wolverines for the regular season Big Ten title and for seeding in the postseason. Every game from here on out is important for the Buckeyes as they try to stay in the hunt for a tournament bid.