Last week, as Michigan State prepared for a critical game against Ohio State that would have a major effect on its postseason hopes, coach Tom Izzo offered an unconventional plan to try and foil D’Angelo Russell, the Buckeyes’ star freshman guard who has thwarted most conventional ways of doing so.
“We're gonna play a box-and-one,” Izzo told reporters, according to the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. “Box on him and one on the other four.”
The comment was facetious, but there’s some merit to it. Because as Russell, who leads No. 23 Ohio State in scoring (19 points a game) and rebounds, so go the Buckeyes.
So in a game that went back and forth and ultimately came to the wire, the Spartans, which beat Ohio State, 59-56, thanks to last-second heroics by Denzel Washington in East Lansing, Michigan State stifled Russell.
To do so, Michigan State found a way to neutralize Russell, who has emerged as one of the nation’s most electrifying players and potentially a top pick in the NBA Draft.
"I think he’s maybe the best player in this league."
"I think he’s maybe the best player in this league,” Izzo told reporters after the game.
Izzo is not along in such a sentiment.
"He's like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, he just sees the floor. The game’s so easy to him,” said Eddie Jordan, the Rutgers coach who watched Russell drop 23 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in a 79-60 win over the Scarlet Knights last Sunday.
Added Pat Chambers, the Penn State coach: "He plays beyond his freshman status … I just love watching kids play like that. He’s really, really, really good. You haven’t seen a freshman do this for a long time.”
Against the Spartans, however, Russell was not his dynamic self.
He mustered 10 points and struggled to find his touch shooting the ball (4-of-14 and 2-of-7 from 3-point range) at the Breslin Center, which has long proved to be a lion’s den of sorts for opponents.
After a strong start where he scored eight points in the game’s first nine minutes, Russell struggled for the rest of the contest, making one field goal in the next 31 minutes. It was an usually scant outing for one of the nation's youngest stars.
In particular, perhaps most damning for the Buckeyes was how Russell did not attempt a shot in the final three minutes, which, of course, is when they needed him the most before Denzel Valentine buried a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left to lift the Spartans to their first win over a ranked opponent.
To be sure, Russell had his share of brilliant moments, which included a behind-the-back crossover that nearly juked Valentine out of his sneakers to set up a pull-up jumper that swished through the net. That is the Russell who has captivated the attention of the college basketball world.
“Personally, I think it’s scary for my opponents because I feel like I get better every game and every practice I learn something that I didn’t know going into that practice or that game," Russell said last week before dropping 17 points against Penn State.
“It’s scary because I feel it; like I get better every game. It’s just something new that I’m doing or something that I didn’t expect to happen happened.”
But on this afternoon in East Lansing, Russell was unable to carry Ohio State in the same way he’s done so many times this season. And, in turn, the Buckeyes missed a decisive opportunity to earn another quality win.
