Ohio State Basketball: MSU wins Big Ten Title with hard-fought victory

The No. 1 seeded Michigan State Spartans won the Big Ten Championship today in a hard-fought victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

Any basketball purist watching the Michigan State Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines battle for the Big Ten Championship had to love it. Not only are both teams talented and well coached, they play with a ton of heart. On this day Michigan State was the better team at the end and pulled out a hard-fought 65-60 victory.

The Spartans had the upper hand early on and took a 17-11 lead with after the first 10 minutes of play. Then the Wolverines got on a roll and went into halftime ahead 31-23.

Michigan appeared to have control early in the second half but after going up 41-31 Michigan State began clawing back. The Spartans kept chipping away at the lead and finally tied the game at 48 with a little over 7 minutes to play.

Following a timeout Michigan scored two quick baskets and seized the momentum back. It took Michigan State nearly 6 minutes of play to get even again.

But after the Spartans tied the game at 60, a score by Cassius Winston put them in the lead and a free throw by Aaron Henry and two by Kenny Goins sealed the victory.

Michigan State only had two players in double figures but they certainly made a huge impact on the game scoring 41 of their team’s 65 points. Matt McQuaide scored 27 points on 7-13 shooting from behind the arc. Cassius Winston scored 14 and had 11 assists.

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Michigan was led by Ignas Brazddeikis with 19 points, Jordan Poole 13 and Jon Teske 10.

Stats provided by ESPN.com.

Quick takes:

Michigan State will be limping into the NCAA Tournament, literally. Nick Ward is working his way back from a leg injury, Cassius Winston is dealing with a foot injury and Kyle Ahrens injured his ankle today and came back to the bench with a protective boot on.

As an Ohio State fan it’s hard for me to root for any team up north, regardless of what sport it is. However, I do enjoy watching any team coached by Tom Izzo or Jon Belein. I appreciate basketball played the right way and their teams rarely disappoint.

Next. Buckeye offense will be better in 2019. dark

Obviously both Michigan and Michigan State are going dancing and I will soon give you an update on the other Big Ten teams who received an invite to the NCAA Tournament soon.

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