MSU Overcomes Slow Offensive Start to Beat Ohio State
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- You take wins as they come this late in the season.
No. 15 Michigan State was held to a season-low 23 points in the first half, but was able to rely on its defense for 40 minutes to will its way to a 66-60 win over Ohio State on Sunday afternoon. The victory pushed MSU to 22-5 overall and 12-4 during Big Ten play.
Carson Cooper played a huge role in this one, scoring a career-high 20 points, with 14 coming in the second half, as well as 11 rebounds for a double-double. Jeremy Fears Jr. also had 11 points and eight assists. Jordan Scott had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Jaxon Kohler, despite being in foul trouble all day, still had nine points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes.
The next game for MSU is going to be a doozy. Michigan State is going to travel to Mackey Arena to take on No. 7 Purdue this coming Thursday (8 p.m. ET, Peacock/NBCSN).
Game Recap
First Half
Offense was a rarity in the early stages of this one. The Buckeyes were the first team to reach 10 points, and it took them nearly nine minutes. Michigan State didn't reach double digits until after the midway point of the opening half, only doing so when Coen Carr hit a free throw with 8:53 left, which snapped a scoring drought of just over five minutes.
Ohio State did it with --- tell me if you've heard this before --- a zone defense. The Buckeyes switched between a 2-3 defense and the ocassional 1-3-1, and MSU couldn't seem to figure out what to do with it, with threes (or shots in general, for that matter) not falling at the rate they were against UCLA.
One of the big storylines of the first half was the foul trouble Jaxon Kohler got himself in, too. He picked up two fouls just 15 seconds apart during his opening shfit on the floor, and had to come off. Tom Izzo, likely seeing his team needed offense, opted to roll the dice and put him back in with about six minutes to go in the half, but then Kohler ended up picking up his third a couple of minutes later. He only played five minutes in the first half.
Bruce Thronton was the guy for OSU. He scored 16 of the Buckeyes 26 first-half points, knowing it was going to be on him with second- and third-leading scorers Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. not playing. Michigan State only shot 8-for-27 (29.6%) from the field in the first half, and was fortunate to only be down 26-23 at the break, the Spartans' lowest first-half scoring output of the season.
Second Half
The offense to start the second half was definitely better than the first. It only took MSU five minutes to score 10 points in the half this time, rather than 11 minutes. Jordan Scott gave the Spartans their first lead since it was 9-8 at the free-throw line with a 2-for-3 trip with 15:09 to go, making it 34-33.
Ohio State's offense performed better, too. The Buckeyes were able to regain the lead towards the midway point of the second half, taking advantage of Michigan State having several starters resting on the bench. Guys other than Thornton were stepping up to help him as well, making the assignment that much more difficult.
Michigan State started to lean on the short-handed Buckeyes more and more as the half progressed, though. Ohio State looked like it's gas tack was nearing "E," as more shots drew iron, and then MSU was getting more and more offensive rebounds and quick buckets.
Another reason for it was that the Spartans were now taking great care of the basketball. Michigan State turned it over seven times in the first half, but only had one through the first 16 minutes of the second half, helping MSU build an eight-point lead at the final media timeout.
Things stayed about the same, but the Buckeyes didn't go away quietly. Michigan State didn't really execute its end-of-game situations amazingly, turning it over once and having an 0-for-2 trip from Coen Carr. That opened the door to bring OSU within three points with 14.3 seconds left after a 7-0 run.
Inbounding from its own baseline, MSU got it in, and it was Jordan Scott who was fouled. The freshman calmly made the first, but missed the second. Alas, that four-point cushion was enough for the Spartans to hold on and win this one.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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