Battle at Breslin

Ohio State rose to the occasion with the Big 10 title on the line in East Lansing Sunday. The ninth-ranked Buckeyes defeated the Spartans to move into a tie for second place in the conference. The 74-67 loss to Ohio State at home was crushing for the team that made it to the national championship game last season. But Michigan State, ranked eleventh in the nation, is still in contention to win the Big 10. The Spartans botched defensive assignments and gave away too many plays with poor shots Sunday. Evan Turner, OSU’s leading scorer, collected 20 points despite playing through flulike symptoms. Turner also finished with 10 rebounds and six assists to help tighten the conference race . Michigan State was led by junior guard, Durrell Summer’s 16 points.
The Buckeyes had a 13 point advantage at the break. Turner secured just four first half points on nine looks. Yet, the Bucks led 39-26 backed by William Buford’s nine points in the game’s first twelve minutes. The crowd was quieted by three dunks by OSU’s Dallas Lauderdale. The Spartan shining star, Kalin Lucas, went 0 for 5 from the floor and hit just one bucket in the first half. The home crowd watched in agony as their team made just 9 of 27 shots before the break. In the second half, the green and white clad Spartans delighted the fans at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Michigan State wiped out the OSU edge with four minutes remaining. Summers scored seven straight to lift the sluggish Spartans to a 62-61 lead. MSU’s depth and experience was retained, but not long enough to prevail over the skillfully crafty Buckeyes. The Bucks went on a bold run, banging in seven points. Ohio State rebounded to take a three point lead on Turner’s downtown dish. Jon Diebler drilled a 3-pointer with less than two minutes to pad the lead to six for the Bucks. David Lighty and Turner made six of eight free throws to seal the deal for 21-7 Ohio State.
Michigan State was outrebounded 41-38. The Spartans fought back but couldn’t forge the strong finish needed to make the comeback complete. MSU managed 33% from the rainbow and only 55% from the charity stripe. Lucas finished with nine points, eight assists and two rebounds. Spartan senior, Raymar Morgan, notched a gnarly 14 of the team’s 32 rebounds. OSU head coach, Thad Matta, played just six of his men the entire game. Kyle Madsen, the 6’9” center, was the only player to come in off the pine for 16 minutes. Four of the five starters clocked the maximum forty minutes, and all of them finished with double digits in points. MSU should have been able to compete and beat the worn out Buckeye starters. The Spartans outscored Ohio State 41-35 in the second half. It was OSU that held on to top of Spartans on their home floor and pick up their third win in five tries. Purdue still carries the Big 10 torch, leading by half a game. OSU has the morale to win the conference. The Buckeyes know how to dictate the pace of play and mark their territory on the road. The won, despite Turner being irrelevant and shut out in the first half. OSU can top Purdue if they succeed in taking away their opponent’s offensive opportunities. They lost by three points to the Boilermakers last Wednesday. Yesterday they handed the Spartans their second loss in fifteen games at the Breslin Center.

Parting Points: Go team USA! Way to chip Canada. Ryan Miller is brilliant.

Number 19 Pitt takes down third ranked Villanova in a Big East thriller.

Monday tune- “Zero” by Smashing Pumpkins