Fresh off their first set of back-to-back losses all season, the Buckeyes run the risk of extending that skid unless they start playing better on Thursday.
No. 23 Ohio State hosts Michigan State, a team that has lost four of its last five games but also beat the No. 4 team in the country just this past weekend, on Thursday night at the Schottenstein Center. Tom Izzo’s program has peaked as high as No. 10 in the AP poll this season, but has fallen out of the top 25 in recent weeks as it began to stumble through the midway mark of the Big Ten schedule.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State (19-10, 10-8 B1G) | Schottenstein Center | 7 p.m. | ESPN |
After starting the year 14-2, the Spartans have gone 5-8 since, losing to Northwestern, Rutgers and Penn State among other Big Ten opponents. Michigan blew them out by 17 points just two nights ago. That loss put a halt on any momentum the program built by upsetting Purdue just three days prior, but the Buckeye have plenty of issues of their own at the moment.
Riding the high of a road win at Illinois, Ohio State came back down to earth with a blowout loss to Maryland on the road Sunday. Even more stunning was the Buckeyes’ home loss to Nebraska, the last-place team in the Big Ten and a unit Ohio State was favored to beat by 15 but instead lost to by eight on Tuesday.
“I really can’t point to anything specific. We just gotta be better at the end of the day,” Justin Ahrens said after the loss. “We just didn’t have it the past two games. Letting teams score too easy, so to finish the season we just gotta step up and take it personal, come up big and make plays. It’s all we can really do.”
Now the Buckeyes must pick up the pieces and notch a bounce-back win if they hope to keep alive their prospects of securing a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts next week in Indianapolis.
What to Watch For
Health issues for Buckeye bigs
Zed Key missed Ohio State’s last game due to an ankle injury he suffered on Sunday, and Holtmann has called the issue “significant.” Kyle Young, who started in place of Key, played just eight minutes Tuesday before missing the rest of the game due to an illness of which little has been revealed. The absence of both players was felt against Nebraska, but their status is still unknown ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Sparty.
Will changes in backcourt rotation continue?
The Buckeyes made some notable changes to their backcourt rotation on Tuesday as Jimmy Sotos played his most minutes of the season (23) in an eight-point performance for Ohio State. While Sotos saw extra time, Mecehie Johnson – who averages 18.5 minutes per game – played just two minutes on Tuesday, and Cedric Russell played only 10. Holtmann didn’t give much of an explanation for the change, but whether or not it persists into Thursday will be something worth keeping an eye on.
Low-scoring stretch for Spartans
Michigan State’s scoring offense ranks in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, at 72.1 points per game, but that number has tapered off quite a bit in the past nine games in particular. During that stretch, the Spartans are only averaging 66.2 points, which would be the second-worst figure in the Big Ten if it was their overall season average. The Buckeyes have struggled defensively in their last three games, giving up upwards of 78 points on average, but the Spartans might not be the biggest threat in terms of an all-out offensive explosion on Thursday.
Three Important Buckeyes
E.J. Liddell
Liddell responded to one of his worst performances of the year, an 11-point effort against Maryland, with a 27-point, 14-rebound outing against Nebraska. But it wasn’t enough to put the Buckeyes over the top, as all of Liddell’s teammates combined to score just 17 points in the second half against the Huskers. Although Liddell found more energy on Tuesday after battling the flu last week, he remains on a bit of a shooting slump as of late, as the junior has now shot below 50 percent in each of his past five performances – by far his longest such drought of the season.
Malaki Branham
Ohio State’s freshman star had a better performance against Nebraska than he did against Maryland, but he scored just six points in the second half while the Buckeyes let things slip away. Branham fouled out by the end of the game, but given what he’s done in recent games against Illinois and other Big Ten teams, Ohio State could have used more than three shot attempts from Branham in the final 20 minutes.
Justin Ahrens
If neither Key nor Young are able to go on Thursday, it’s likely we see the return of Justin Ahrens to the Ohio State starting lineup, as the senior captain took Young’s place to begin the second half Tuesday after he left the game with an illness. Ahrens is averaging just 3.4 points per game and shooting 27.4 percent from 3-point range in his past 18 games, but perhaps his reinsertion into the starting lineup could spark some life into the veteran wing.
Three Important Spartans
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TYSON WALKER | G | 6-0 | 175 | 8.2 PPG, 4.3 APG |
| MAX CHRISTIE | G | 6-6 | 190 | 9.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG |
| MALIK HALL | F | 6-8 | 225 | 9.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG |
| GABE BROWN | F | 6-8 | 215 | 11.4 PPG, 4 RPG |
| JULIUS MARBLE | F | 6-9 | 245 | 6.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG |
Gabe Brown
Michigan State’s leading scorer has averaged 11.4 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting, and the senior forward has hit 36.1 percent of his 3-point attempts as well. Brown averaged 14.2 points through his first 17 games this season, but struggled in his next 10 after that, putting up just 6.6 points a night in that stretch. But Brown has scored at least 12 points in each of his last two performances as he appears to be gaining back some steam as of late.
Malik Hall
Third-year Spartan forward Malik Hall is averaging 9.6 points per game in mostly a reserve role as Michigan State’s second-leading scorer on the season. Hall has started the last two games, but had only started four games all season before that as his scoring output has been a bit inconsistent. Despite notching double-digit points on 14 occasions, Hall hasn’t done so more than twice in a row this season, but his .539 field-goal percentage and 49.1% rate from 3-point range are impressive nonetheless.
Max Christie
Christie, a five-star recruit and the No. 20 overall prospect in the class of 2021, has started all 28 of his appearances for the Spartans this season. Christie is Michigan State’s third-leading scorer with an average of 9.5 points per game, and his 31.8 minutes per night are the most of anyone on the team. Christie leaves something to be desired in the efficiency department when it comes to shooting the ball, given that he’s hitting just 37.8 percent of his shots, but the freshman remains an important piece for the Spartans.
How It Plays Out
Line: Ohio State -6, O/U 141.5
It’s hard to like how the Buckeyes have been playing as of late, but Michigan State has had its own fair share of disappointing losses as well, and might not present the same level of high-octane offense that Nebraska brought to the table. But whether or not Key and Young play for the Buckeyes might be the true deciding factor, and if both are out, I don’t love Ohio State’s chances.
Prediction: Michigan State 74, Ohio State 72
