Saturday's Game Was Latest Chapter in Thrilling Series Between Ohio State, Michigan State

By Tim Shoemaker on February 15, 2015 at 7:45 am
Shannon Scott throws up the 'H'
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Ohio State head coach Thad Matta wants there to be a television channel that shows nothing but great games between the Buckeyes and Michigan State.

After Saturday’s 59-56 thriller was just the latest installment in the closely-contested series, Matta might be onto something.

“You could literally start your own Classics channel from the last few years of Ohio State-Michigan State games,” Matta said. “The endings have been incredible.”

The latest great ending came via a game-winning 3-pointer by the Spartans’ Denzel Valentine with 3.2 seconds left. It was joy and jubilation for Michigan State and heartbreak for the Buckeyes. 

Each team has had its fair share of each of those scenarios, though. Last year, the Spartans won a 72-68 overtime game in East Lansing, while Ohio State returned the favor, 69-67, in Columbus. 

In fact, the last eight games between the Buckeyes and Michigan State have been decided by eight points or less. Each team during that span has won four times.

“Ohio State and Michigan State, if you look at the record the last five or six years, they’ve been games like this,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. “It seems like every one is like this. We play down there, they play up here and then both coaches have respect for each other’s programs. I think we’ve both been very consistent.”

This win was especially big for Michigan State, which was firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble prior to Saturday. It also helped keep the Spartans in a tie for second place in the Big Ten standings.

For Ohio State, it was just another backbreaking defeat on the road in East Lansing. The Buckeyes have now lost in their last three trips to the Breslin Center by a combined 11 points. They also have a pair of three-point losses and a two-point loss on the road in Big Ten play this season.

“In four years, I’ve had a William Buford game-winner, a loss by three, a loss by four last year when we were down 20 and a loss by three this year,” Ohio State senior forward Sam Thompson said. “We knew it was going to be a tough environment and we knew it was going to be a close game.”

Unfortunately for Ohio State, it won’t get another shot at Michigan State this year. Saturday was the only meeting scheduled between the two teams, unless they cross paths in the Big Ten tournament.

It’s unfortunate, really, because it seems like every meeting between the two teams tries to one-up the previous one.

“I want to say the last five or six of these games have come down to the last possession and we’ve been on the right side and the wrong side of them,” Matta said. “You’ve got what I consider two of the top college basketball programs in the country over time and this was just another classic battle of it.”

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