Ohio State Upsets Michigan State, Advances to Big Ten Semis
The Ohio State Buckeyes continue to prove the doubters wrong, as they upset the fourth-seeded Michigan State Spartans 68-58 in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals in Chicago on Friday to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
The 13th-seeded Buckeyes became the lowest seed ever in the Big Ten Tournament to advance to the semifinals. They'll take on the top-seeded Purdue Boilermakers at United Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Ohio State was without leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh due to knee soreness, but this hardly made a difference in a game that saw the Buckeyes control the pace for nearly the entire contest.
OSU got a game-high 21 points from guard Bruce Thornton while Justice Sueing added 14 points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Roddy Gayle Jr. came out of nowhere in the second half and was a major reason why the Buckeyes were able to close things out. He finished with 15 points, 12 of which came in the final 20 minutes.
The Spartans got 15 points from Joey Hauser while Jaden Akins, AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker all had 10 points. However, Michigan State got just seven points from its bench.
Look no further than the shooting statistics to find out who won this game. OSU shot 44.6 percent from the floor and 10 of 19 from deep (52.6) while the Spartans shot 38.2 percent from the field and an abysmal 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
The Buckeyes held Michigan State without a field goal for over three minutes before building a 28-19 lead late in the first half. But a triple from Gayle Jr. helped keep the Spartans at bay, as OSU held a 33-24 lead at the half.
The response from the Spartans was expected and it eventually came. They cut the lead to two at 36-34 at the start of the second half.
But this was the closest that Michigan State got for the rest of the game. Thornton and Gayle Jr. started to take over and delivered a huge response, as Gayle Jr. had 10 points in about an eight-minute stretch, which, along with stout OSU defense, helped stifle the Spartans in the closing minutes.
Ohio State will now have to play its best game of the season in order to upset the Boilermakers on Saturday and advance to the Big Ten Tournament Final.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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