CHICAGO – No one expected Michigan State basketball’s hot-shot, high-scoring regular season to carry over. Especially not Tom Izzo.
And it evaporated. Just as Ohio State — in its third game in three days at the United Center — made nearly every look.
And the Buckeyes kept it up. And it goes. And the Spartans go home early.
Fueled by adrenaline and the need to win it all or see the end of a disappointing season, 13th-seeded Ohio State hit 10 3-pointers as fourth-seeded MSU struggled to find any flow in a 68-58 loss Friday afternoon in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals .
“No matter how long you’ve been in it, it never ceases to amaze you,” said Izzo, who is now 34-19 in the Big Ten Tournament. “I thought we had the best three days of practice that we could. I thought our guys were fresh. I thought we started the game pretty well.
“But I give a lot of credit to Ohio State and Chris Holtmann. … They hit unbelievable shots. We just couldn’t buy some.”
The Spartans (19-12), who scored 80 points in four straight games to close the regular season, shot just 3 of 16 on three-pointers. They struggled to move the ball, with just 11 assists, and now have to wait until Sunday night to find out their NCAA Tournament destination and seed.
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The Buckeyes (16-18) — who won without star freshman Brice Sensabaugh (knee) — play No. 1 seed and No. 3 Purdue at noon Saturday at the United Center (CBS). They became the lowest seed to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Bruce Thornton scored 21 points, and Roddy Gayle Jr. 15, while senior Justice Sueing scored 14.
OSU shot 52.6% from deep after hitting 7 of 15 3-pointers in the second half of MSU’s 84-78 home win Saturday in East Lansing that swept the regular season series. The Buckeyes have gone 21 for 34 from the arc in their last two games.
The Spartans held OSU to 6 of 29 three-point attempts in their first meeting on Feb. 12 in Columbus, Ohio, a 62-41 MSU win.
“They were great defensively for us. And to be honest with you, I don’t think I had a very good plan to attack them,” Holtmann said. “We beat them at our place last year. I just don’t think I had a very good offensive attack against their defense. They can be very limiting with how much spacing they are. So we made some adjustments going into the second game, and we made some snaps. …
“From that moment on, we’re playing a lot more the right way. It might have been a lower score than the season, but it’s definitely there. I think we’re trusting the pass a lot more and we’re playing a lot more together on that end.”
Four Spartans reached double figures, led by Joey Hauser with 15 points and six rebounds. AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins each scored 10 as MSU finished 38.2% from the field overall.
The return of futility
The Spartans carried over their hot shooting from last month into the first five minutes Friday, going 4 of 6 in the first 4:17 that included a 7-0 run. All those shots came after assists.
Then the ball stopped moving and their shots stopped falling.
MSU went 5 for 23 in the final 15-plus minutes. Hauser’s 3-pointer at 16:35 was the only one of the half, and the Spartans missed their final seven to go into the half 1-for-9 as Hauser rattled in one at the buzzer. After the split start, the Spartans had only two assists.
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Meanwhile, the Buckeyes couldn’t miss. Sueing hit three 3-pointers and Sean McNeil another as OSU took control with a 15-6 spurt midway through the half. Then came another 13-4 run that extended the Buckeyes’ lead to double digits, and Gayle’s 3-pointer with 2:29 left made it 11 before Walker’s layup cut MSU’s halftime deficit to 33-24.
“I’d really just say we kind of gave up too many lanes, and we were put in tough situations because they were safe from the 3 today,” Akins said. “So you kind of didn’t know if you wanted to help or try to stop the ball while they were driving.”
The Buckeyes hit 5 of 9 3-pointers in the first half. Thornton and Sueing each had eight points and combined for five of OSU’s nine assists in the half.
Yes, they were in rhythm, Hauser said. “We didn’t do a good job defending the 3-point line. But they’ve already had two games here and we knew it was going to be like that coming into the game.”
It was reminiscent of the Spartans’ first-half struggles on Feb. 28 at Nebraska, where they were shot 27.8 in the first half before rebounding in a spirited second half. On Friday, MSU shot just 31% overall compared to OSU’s 51.9% shooting. Hauser had seven points in the half, including four at the free throw line, while Walker and Mady Sissoko each had six. Hoggard and Akins were a combined 1-for-9.
Recovery is not enough
After halftime, shots started to fall for MSU, first Hauser’s jump in the racket, and then Walker’s three-pointer. The confidence seemed to rekindle, with Akin’s jumper and Hoggard’s driving layup pulling the Spartans back within 36-34 less than 4 ½ minutes into the final period.
MSU had a chance to tie the game moments later, but freshman Jaxon Kohler missed a layup. Thornton responded with a three-pointer on the other end. Felix Okpara then swatted away Malik Hall’s layup attempt, one of five blocks in the game for the OSU big man, and Sueing hit back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly push the Buckeyes’ lead back to eight.
And Ohio State hit big 3s when they needed them, with Gayle and Sueing each draining a pair from deep as the Buckeyes went 5 of 10 from behind the arc in the final period to extend their lead to 13 with 7:56 left.
The Spartans made one final surge, closing within six with 4:54 to play on Hoggard’s driving layup. But Gayle’s 3-pointer with 3:14 to play was part of a knockout run that pushed him to 14 points in the final few minutes.
“We let them shoot,” Walker said. “And it kind of sapped our energy. That kind of thing can’t happen, especially when the defense got us back into it.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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