The Ohio State basketball team came into the game on Friday night against Michigan State with a lot of confidence. They have been playing with a bunch of confidence ever since taking down Kentucky a couple of weeks ago. Quite frankly, they've looked like a different team since then.
Ohio State had another opportunity to get a top-25 win with the Spartans coming into Columbus. Michigan State is the 18th-ranked team in the country. Instead, the Buckeyes ended their winning streak after falling to the Spartans 69-62. It was a game The Buckeyes had a chance to win.
A big reason for the loss is poor shooting from outside for the Buckeyes. In this game, they were just 7/25 from three, which is just 28%. As a team that loves to shoot threes, that's not the kind of performance that will lead to many wins. Bad free-throw shooting was an issue, too.
The Ohio State basketball team falls to Michigan State in their only meeting this year
Ohio State was just 11/16 from the free-throw line. They are 14th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten in free-throw shooting, and it cost them in this one. They can't let those free points go by the wayside, especially when they face a more talented team than them.
Bruce Thornton had a rough game. He was just 3/9 from the field, including 0/5 from beyond the arc. He did finish with ten points though and was one of just two Buckeyes to have double-digit scoring efforts. The other was Micah Parrish, who finished with 13.
Shooting under 37% from the field isn't going to get it done. Ohio State's defense was good enough to get the win, but they just couldn't find enough offense. That's how it's going to be in a brutal Big Ten Conference every single game. Ohio State needs to get used to it.