Michigan State Set For Rematch with Ohio State Here at the Big Ten Tournament

Michigan State Set For Rematch with Ohio State Here at the Big Ten Tournament United Center Chicago, IL The Michigan State Spartans finally know after two

Michigan State Set For Rematch with Ohio State Here at the Big Ten Tournament

United Center

Chicago, IL

The Michigan State Spartans finally know after two days of the Big Ten tournament who their opponent will be when they tip off at 8:55 ET tonight and it is The Ohio State Buckeyes. The #6 seed Bucks downed the #11 seed Minnesota Gophers last night in a round two Big Ten Tournament game 79-73.

For the Buckeyes the chance to play #3 seed Michigan State again is a big deal. They lost a close one in East Lansing on Valentine’s day 59-56. In the last nine meetings between MSU and OSU the Spartans have a slight edge in wins 5-4. That prompted Thad Matta to say back in February after the Bucks loss in East Lansing, “If it’s Michigan State and Ohio State you just know it will be close.”

Senior guard Shannon Scott was succinct after the win over Minnesota and looking ahead to this game, “We lost to them in a nail biter but we're going to watch film on them tonight and tomorrow and figure out their actions again, and just get going from there.”

The Buckeyes sensational fresh guard D’angelo Russell had nothing but praise for the Spartans looking ahead to their next game. “I mean, I give a lot of credit to them. They beat us by a buzzer beater last time at their home. Now it's a more hostile crowd. We've got their crowd and our crowd, it's not a home game for them. We look to keep the crowd involved and just keep energy”

For one of the most underrated head coaches in the country, the Buckeyes Thad Matta just keeps looking ahead. With the win over the Gophers he became the all-time winningest coach in Buckeye history, but his focus was with Michigan State and the next battle, not accolades.

“You know, it is interesting. I think from the standpoint of the battles over the years, that we've had, you know, honestly, tomorrow what we should do is just start with one minute on the clock and save ourselves because they always seem to come down to the last minute of the game.”

He went on to add, “I'll be honest with you, I have so much respect for Coach Izzo. When I got to Ohio State 11 years ago, that was one of the programs I looked at and said, boy, if we could ever get this program to that level, I'd be a happy man. He's stood the test of time. He's had great players, we've had great players. He's a heck of a coach. I get lucky every now and then. I think from that perspective, it makes it a lot of fun. As crazy as it sounds, I actually look forward to tomorrow night because you know it's going to be a heck of a basketball game.”

So will Matta spend a lot of time (with only hours and not days to prepare for MSU) talking with his team about the loss less than a month ago to MSU?

“We'll look at it. We can walk right now into film our guys are prepared through film and all that stuff. I don't think they've changed drastically. We haven't changed drastically. You know, we'll take a look at that game, but it's all the other little things. They're going to do what they do, we're going to do what we do, and hopefully we score more points than they do tomorrow night.”

On Monday Izzo talked about the potential disadvantage to getting byes on Wednesday and Thursday now that the tournament has expanded with the addition of Rutgers and Maryland. He said, “I get a little concerned when you have a bye. Usually when you have a bye you get a team that was not as good in the first game. Now you could be playing a team that is better than you are in the first game. Them getting one game under their belt could be an advantage. It still has its ups and downs, this tournament. You think we play a game late at night and if you win you come back and play at 2:30 in the afternoon. It going to be different, but we are excited about it. It’s like a second chance to say hey, have we grown from some of those one point losses. Have we gotten better? We are really looking forward to it.”

Maryland and Indiana tip off at 6:30 PM. The Spartans contest follows that 25 minutes after that game concludes. It is also a Big Ten Network telecast.