CHICAGO — No one expected the end of Michigan State’s basketball regular season to continue. Especially not Tom Izzo.
And it evaporated. Just as Ohio State — in its third game in three days at the United Center — got nearly all the looks it took.
And the Buckeyes continued. And go. And the Spartans go home early.
Fueled by adrenaline and the need to win it all or see a disappointing season end, 13th-seeded Ohio State made 10 3-pointers while fourth-seeded MSU had struggled to find a flow in a 68-58 loss Friday afternoon at the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
“No matter how long you’re at it, it never ceases to amaze you,” said Izzo, who is now 34-19 in the Big Ten tournament. “I think we had three days of training as good as possible. I think our guys were fresh. I think we started the game pretty well.
“But I give Ohio State and Chris Holtmann a lot of credit. … They had some amazing shots. We just couldn’t buy any.”
The Spartans (19-12), who scored 80 points in four straight games to close the regular season, shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range. They struggled to move the ball, with just 11 assists, and now have to wait to find out their NCAA Tournament destination and seed on Sunday night.
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The Buckeyes (16-18) — who won without star rookie Brice Sensabaugh (knee) — advance to face No. 3 seed Purdue at noon Saturday at the United Center (CBS). They became the lowest seed to advance to the semi-finals of the Big Ten tournament. Bruce Thornton scored 21 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. had 15, while senior judge Sueing scored 14.
OSU shot 52.6 percent from deep after making 7 of 15 3-pointers in the second half of MSU’s 84-78 home win Saturday at East Lansing to sweep the regular-season series. The Buckeyes have gone 21 for 34 from the arc in those last two games.
The Spartans held OSU to 6 of 29 on 3-point tries in their first meeting Feb. 12 in Columbus, Ohio, a 62-41 MSU win.
“They were great defensively at home. And to be honest with you, I don’t think I had a very good plan to attack them,” Holtmann said. “We beat them at home last year. I just don’t think I had a very good offensive attack against their defence. They can be very suffocating with their gap. So we made some adjustments before Game 2, and we took some shots…
“We’ve been playing a lot more in the right direction since that point. It was maybe as low a point as there was in the season, but it’s definitely up there. I think we trust a lot more the pass and let’s play a lot more together to that end.”
Four Spartans hit double numbers, led by Joey Hauser’s 15 points and six rebounds. AJ Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins each scored 10 as MSU finished 38.2% from the field.
Back to uselessness
The Spartans continued their hot shot from the previous month in the first five minutes on Friday, opening 4 of 6 in the first 4:17 that included a 7-0 run. All those buckets came after assists.
Then the ball stopped moving and their shots stopped falling.
MSU went 5 for 23 in the final 15-plus minutes. Hauser’s 3-pointer at 4:35 p.m. was the only one of the half, with the Spartans missing their last seven to enter the half 1 for 9 as Hauser hit one at the buzzer. The Spartans only got two assists after the split started.
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In the meantime, the Buckeyes couldn’t miss. Sueing drilled a pair of 3-pointers and Sean McNeil another as OSU took control 15-6 midway through the half. Then came another 13-4 run that pushed the Buckeyes into double digits, and Gayle’s 3-pointer with 2:29 made it 11 before Walker’s layup cut the halftime deficit of MSU at 33-24.
“I would definitely say we were giving up too many lanes of traffic, and we were being put in some tough spots because they were confident starting at 3 today,” Akins said. “So you weren’t sure if you wanted to help or try to stop the ball when they were driving.”
The Buckeyes hit 5 of 9 3-pointers in the first half. Thornton and Sueing each had eight points and combined for five of OSU’s nine assists at halftime.
“Yeah, they were on a beat,” Hauser said. “We didn’t do a good job defending the 3-point line. But they already had two games under their belt here, and we knew that would be the case before the game.”
It was reminiscent of the Spartans’ first-half struggles on Feb. 28 in Nebraska, where they shot 27.8 in the first half before rallying with a scorching second half. On Friday, MSU won just 31% overall on OSU’s 51.9% shooting. Hauser had seven points at halftime, including four from the free throw line, while Walker and Mady Sissoko each had six. Hoggard and Akins were combined 1 for 9.
Recovery not enough
Shots started falling for MSU after halftime, first a Hauser jumper in the paint, then a Walker 3-pointer. Confidence seemed rekindled, with an Akins jumper and a Hoggard driving layup bringing the Spartans 36-34 under 4½ minutes into the final period.
MSU had a chance to tie it moments later, but rookie Jaxon Kohler missed a layup. Thornton responded at the other end with a 3-pointer. Felix Okpara then crushed Malik Hall’s layup attempt, one of five blocks in the game for the OSU big man, and Sueing hit back-to-back triples to quickly push the Buckeyes’ lead to eight.
And Ohio State hit big 3s when they needed it, with Gayle and Sueing each draining a deep pair as the Buckeyes went 5 of 10 from behind the arc in the final period and extended their cushion to 13 with 7: 56 to play.
The Spartans made one final push, closing in on six with 4:54 to play on Hoggard’s driving layup. But Gayle’s 3-pointer with 3:14 to go was part of the knockout run that pushed him to 14 points in the final minutes.
“We let them shoot,” Walker said. “And that kind of took our energy away from us. Things like that can’t happen, especially when our defense has put us back there.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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