Four Takeaways: Michigan State struggles continue with loss at Ohio State
In a quick, two-day turnaround following a loss in Ann Arbor, Michigan State traveled to Columbus and got a similar result — an 80-69 defeat at the hands of Ohio State.
Michigan State was punched in the mouth early in this one, as the Buckeyes connected on their first five shot attempts to jump to a 13-0 lead to start the game, and forcing Tom Izzo to call timeout.
Ohio State's lead grew to as high as 16-2, before the Spartans settled in and started chipping away at their deficit. A corner three-pointer from Gabe Brown capped an extended 23-11 run by Michigan State to cut their deficit to 27-25.
After an Ohio State timeout, the Buckeyes went on a 12-2 run of their own to rebuild their lead to 12 points. When the dust settled following high-octane first half, Ohio State held a 43-33 lead.
After the Buckeyes scored the first two basket of the second half, Michigan State found itself in a familiar hole, trailing by 14. The Spartans were never able to mount another rally after that, getting no closer than nine points the rest of the way on their way to a seventh loss in their last nine games.
1. Michigan State's defense gets torched again
A couple days after the Spartans watched Michigan drop 87 points on them, Michigan State struggled mightily on the defensive end again, particularly in the first half. The Spartans gave up 1.37 points per possession in the first 20 minutes, as the Buckeyes shot 59.3 percent from the field and 60.7 percent from three-point range in the first half.
Michigan State's post defense has been particularly poor of late. It's one thing to give up career highs to Purdue's Zach Edey and Michigan's Hunter Dickinson, but the Spartans got burned tonight by Ohio State's Joey Brunk for 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. The Buckeye senior had scored 32 points ALL SEASON coming into this game.
It's hard to say if Michigan State's second half defense was better, or if Ohio State just missed a few more shots. For the game, the Buckeyes averaged 1.24 points per possession — that's high — and shot 54.7 percent from the field and 45 percent from deep. The Spartans have struggled to score at a high clip most of the season. Through the first half of the year, MSU's excellent defense made up for that shortcoming, but it's no coincidence that the losses have piled up as the Spartans' defense has worn down.
2. Buckeyes make Spartans pay for turnovers
It's been some time since we've talked about the turnovers, but they killed the Spartans tonight. Michigan State ended up with 13 for the game, and the Buckeyes turned those into 18 points. Throughout the season, the turnovers have hampered the Spartans ability to get up the amount of shots that Izzo wants his team to take per game, but they were a double-edged sword tonight, allowing Ohio State to get multiple easy looks at the basket. Unfortunately, we're at the end of the regular season, and this continues to be a problem for MSU. The Spartans couldn't get their transition game going either, being held to three fast break points.
3. No star power on offense
Speaking of prevailing issues, Michigan State simply does not have any explosive scorers on offense. Gabe Brown got off to a great start this year, but water found its level and he's going to finish this season below 12 points per game. That's a No. 2 scorer for a Big Ten squad, not a leading scorer. Yet, Brown is the only Spartan who is averaging double-digit points per game.
Marcus Bingham Jr., likewise, got off to a strong start this year, but the big man has faded down the stretch as well, even losing his starting spot. Max Christie flashed his ability to be a bucket-getter in January, but Izzo has said he's run the freshman into the ground with the amount of minutes Christie has played, and it's shown over these last five weeks.
Izzo simply doesn't have any answers right now on this current roster. Just when it looked like Malik Hall had turned a corner and become Michigan State's go-to guy, the junior has completely disappeared in four of MSU's last five games. The Spartans' starters were outscored 77-33 (!!) in this game. Just unfathomable.
4. Senior night is next, postseason around the corner
After back-to-back losses on the road, the Spartans return home for their regular season finale against Maryland. It will be 'Senior Night' for Michigan State, though with the free year of eligibility due to COVID its unclear how many Spartans will be playing their final game at the Breslin. A win over the Terrapins won't exactly inspire a great deal of confidence heading into the Big Ten Tournament, but Michigan State desperately needs a win, regardless, just to have something positive heading into postseason play. Things look about as bleak as possible for the Spartans, who may watch a once-promising season turn into an early elimination in March.
