Ohio State Moves Closer to Big Ten Title; MSU Out of Race
Michigan State had a chance to stay in the hunt for the Big Ten title. But that chance is gone now.
The Ohio State University outplayed the Spartans in the final ten minutes of the second half and walked away from the Jack Breslin Student Event Center with a 79-68 win.
Terrance Dials verified tonight that he is that best post-player in the Big Ten with a double-double performance, 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Spartans are not a deep team and it showed late in the game as Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown could not find their legs to get solid jump shots.
The OSU did receive some favorable calls, a loose-ball foul on Dials that was not called, a push-off, both of which lead to six points on two threes. On the other side Paul Davis was called for a loose-ball foul and a push-off on Ager that negated a jump shot that brought MSU within two points late in the game.
The officiating didn’t matter. The Buckeyes outscored the Spartans 12-2 in the final three minutes, again illustrating Michigan State’s lack of depth off the bench as fatigue set in the Spartans starters.
MSU travels to Bloomington to play Indiana. Michigan State has only won at Indiana a couple of times since the mid-seventies. Things may only get worse for the Spartans.
Michigan State will at best be a five seed in the NCAA tournament. They will not get to play the first two games at the Palace of Auburn Hills and will probably be sent west into the Oakland bracket. MSU falls to 19-8 after starting the season 12-2, including 1-3 in their last four games. Not an impressive resume as the Spartans enter post-season play.
The OSU will play the University of Michigan at home and then close against two of the weakest teams in the Big Ten, Northwestern and Purdue.
Thad Mata’s team played an extremely weak non-conference schedule that included Florida A & M, Norfolk State, Belmont and Gardner Webb. Games like that will inflate a teams record, hence the Buckeyes getting to 20 wins this season. However, the OSU is a very good basketball team and showed it tonight in an impressive performance.
It was nice to see Thad Mata show some sportsmanship and shake hands with Tom Izzo after the game. When MSU escaped Value City Arena with a 62-59 victory earlier in the year Mata walked straight into the locker-room without shaking hands with any Spartan coach or player. Classy.
The NCAA will be ruling on previous violations by the Buckeye’s men’s basketball team soon. The OSU is accused of paying players from the former Yugoslavia to play at the OSU, professors taking exams and doing homework for certain players and paying for trips to Hawaii. This may be the last time the Buckeyes reach the tournament for some time.
The Ohio State University outplayed the Spartans in the final ten minutes of the second half and walked away from the Jack Breslin Student Event Center with a 79-68 win.
Terrance Dials verified tonight that he is that best post-player in the Big Ten with a double-double performance, 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Spartans are not a deep team and it showed late in the game as Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown could not find their legs to get solid jump shots.
The OSU did receive some favorable calls, a loose-ball foul on Dials that was not called, a push-off, both of which lead to six points on two threes. On the other side Paul Davis was called for a loose-ball foul and a push-off on Ager that negated a jump shot that brought MSU within two points late in the game.
The officiating didn’t matter. The Buckeyes outscored the Spartans 12-2 in the final three minutes, again illustrating Michigan State’s lack of depth off the bench as fatigue set in the Spartans starters.
MSU travels to Bloomington to play Indiana. Michigan State has only won at Indiana a couple of times since the mid-seventies. Things may only get worse for the Spartans.
Michigan State will at best be a five seed in the NCAA tournament. They will not get to play the first two games at the Palace of Auburn Hills and will probably be sent west into the Oakland bracket. MSU falls to 19-8 after starting the season 12-2, including 1-3 in their last four games. Not an impressive resume as the Spartans enter post-season play.
The OSU will play the University of Michigan at home and then close against two of the weakest teams in the Big Ten, Northwestern and Purdue.
Thad Mata’s team played an extremely weak non-conference schedule that included Florida A & M, Norfolk State, Belmont and Gardner Webb. Games like that will inflate a teams record, hence the Buckeyes getting to 20 wins this season. However, the OSU is a very good basketball team and showed it tonight in an impressive performance.
It was nice to see Thad Mata show some sportsmanship and shake hands with Tom Izzo after the game. When MSU escaped Value City Arena with a 62-59 victory earlier in the year Mata walked straight into the locker-room without shaking hands with any Spartan coach or player. Classy.
The NCAA will be ruling on previous violations by the Buckeye’s men’s basketball team soon. The OSU is accused of paying players from the former Yugoslavia to play at the OSU, professors taking exams and doing homework for certain players and paying for trips to Hawaii. This may be the last time the Buckeyes reach the tournament for some time.
posted by az at 10:28 PM
2 Comments:
that game sucked.
ohio state outplayed michigan state. i think michigan state is the better team, but last night neitzel did not contribute enough and davis was really fatigued by having to play dials all night. it was good basketball, i just wish msu would have won.
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