Dropping the ball

Spartans' turnovers, lack of chemistry give Ohio State an overall win

Editor’s note: Due to weather, men’s basketball reporters Joey Nowak and Sean Ely were unable able to travel to Columbus.

Any type of momentum going into the Big Ten Tournament has been shattered.

The MSU men’s basketball team tripped and fell down the stretch as Ohio State pulled the rug from underneath the Spartans’ feet, snatching a 63-54 victory Sunday afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus.

For the past three games, the No. 17 Spartans (24-7 overall, 12-6 Big Ten) looked like they put their struggles behind them, averaging just 8.7 turnovers a game and stealing a road win in a tough Assembly Hall environment in Champagne, Ill.

As it turns out, the problems still exist, as MSU tallied 21 turnovers, which gave Ohio State 28 points off turnovers.

“Do I think Ohio State is deserving of being in the tournament? Hands down,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.

“The problem is our league gets so maligned by people — and for what reason I don’t know. But, yeah, I think Ohio State deserves to be in. They beat two ranked teams down the stretch and they played one of the tougher schedules early.”

Down eight points at halftime, it seemed the Buckeyes (19-12, 10-8) were letting the game slip away early in the second half. But trailing 35-23 with 18:35 to play, Ohio State refused to let MSU dominate them on their home floor.

“There was a lot of time left in the game,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. “(We said to) keep fighting, that we’ve just got to chip away at the lead and we’ll take each possession one at a time. We did a better job with it.”

Led by guard Jamar Butler and his game-high 20 points, the Buckeyes put together a 10-2 run, cutting the MSU lead to just four.

The Spartans’ big men showed their worth, stringing together three field goals and a pair of free throws by junior forward Marquise Gray to extend the lead back to 10.

But for the final 10 minutes, MSU looked like it was trying to set up plays on an ice rink, slipping all over the floor and coughing up offensive possessions with turnovers and shot-clock violations — lacking any type of team chemistry.

The Green and White found solid play out of just one player, sophomore forward Raymar Morgan, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

“Morgan played an incredible game,” Izzo said. “We just couldn’t keep him on the floor long enough.”

But it wasn’t enough as the Buckeyes finished the game on a 28-9 run. However, the one-sided statistic is deceiving, as MSU had every chance to pull ahead late in the contest.

With 3:06 to play, the Spartans trailed 55-54 before forward Kosta Koufos rolled in a turnaround, one-handed jumpshot to go up by three.

Izzo called a full timeout with 1:33 to play and drew up a play which never produced, thanks to a shot-clock violation the Buckeyes forced.

MSU would never score again, as Ohio State forward Othello Hunter hammered the nail in the coffin with a put-back slam dunk with 55 seconds remaining.

Koufos and Butler each nailed two more free throws to seal the deal.

In the first half, it was all Spartans, as Izzo’s squad never trailed or allowed the Buckeyes to score three consecutive field goals.

But MSU’s soft play allowed the Buckeyes to gain momentum and start delivering the punches instead of taking them.

The Spartans continue play at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Ind., a quarterfinal game of the Big Ten Tournament.

Staff writer Sean Ely contributed to this report.

Published on Sunday, March 9, 2008