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EAST LANSING – Nothing looked pretty, nothing came easy for Michigan State basketball. And the Spartans’ sloppy Sunday against shorthanded Ohio State might have been their worst in a season filled with sluggish starts.
An unexpected dog fight at home deep into February as the games continue to grow more and more meaningful and feel more and more like the impending postseason.
Carson Cooper, Jordan Scott and Jeremy Fears Jr. came to the rescue and reinvigorated No. 15 MSU in the second half. The Spartans managed yet another second-half rally while wearing down the plucky Buckeyes for a 66-60 victory at Breslin Center on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Cooper scored 14 of his career-high 20 points after MSU (22-5, 12-4 Big Ten) trailed at halftime for the seventh time in its past 12 games, and the senior also grabbed 11 rebounds as the Spartans finished with a 43-26 edge on the glass.
Scott had 10 of his 12 points after halftime, while Fears scored nine of his 11 points in the final period and finished with eight assists. Cooper was 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line, and Jaxon Kohler added nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
Bruce Thornton scored 32 points on 12-for-22 shooting for Ohio State (17-10, 9-7), which ran out of gas in the second half without two of its top three scorers. The senior kept the Buckeyes in it into the final seconds with 11 of their final 13 points over the final 6:36, including two layups with less than a minute left as part of a 7-0 run after MSU went ahead by 10 with 1:33 to play.
Christophe Tilly added 10 points and seven rebounds for OSU.
MORE MSU: What MSU basketball must do to bolster résumé
Slow starts continued to plague MSU.
The 23 points the Spartans scored in the first half against the Buckeyes were their second-fewest behind the 21 in the opening 20 minutes of a road loss at Minnesota, MSU’s most shocking defeat of the season. It was the sixth time in Big Ten play this season, starting with a Jan. 8 win over Northwestern, that the Spartans scored fewer than 30 points in the opening half.
The Buckeyes led 23-20 at halftime despite playing without guard John Mobley Jr. (hand) for the third straight game and forward Devin Royal, who was sick. And starting forward Amare Bynum, also questionable with an illness, picked up two early fouls and played just 12:44 in the opening half.
Thornton dominated early, scoring 16 first-half points on 7-for-11 shooting as MSU’s guard looked sluggish defensively. And Kohler picked up his second foul just over three minutes into the half, then returned and got called for his third with 3:48 left before the break. He had just one 3-pointer and five rebounds in the period.
Without Kohler, the Spartans got dominated on the interior. The Buckeyes had a 22-8 scoring edge in the paint and capitalized on seven MSU turnovers. At the same time, the Spartans’ offense barely generated many good looks and opened the game 8-for-27. Fears was 0-for-3 and scored just two points on two free throws.
Before long, the Spartans started to take advantage of OSU’s depleted interior.
Kohler began the second half on the bench, with Kur Teng replacing him in the starting group. Scott moved to the wing and Coen Carr slid into Kohler’s power forward spot. But it was Cooper, though, who delivered the big pivot points to get MSU moving again.
The 6-11 center hit a post-up hook shot, got fouled and drained two more free throws, then hit an elbow jumper against OSU’s zone all within the first 4:17 of the final half. Then Scott got fouled on a 3-point attempt, hitting two free throws to give MSU its first lead since before the midpoint of the first half. Fears followed that by driving and getting the Buckeyes’ defense to collapse as he hit a cutting Cam Ward for a dunk. Then Fears drained another jumper to put the Spartans ahead 38-35 with 13:24 to play.
Thornton drilled a 3-pointer to tie it and the Buckeyes wouldn’t go away, particularly when Izzo rested his starters just before the midway point of the second half. A Christoph Tilly jumper put OSU back ahead by three with 10:55 to play.
But out of the media timeout, Izzo’s starters came back and asserted themselves with a 9-2 run started by a Scott 3-pointer and a Kohler elbow jumper inside the Buckeyes’ zone. Fears hit a pair of free throws, then found Cooper for a pump-fake layup that forced OSU coach Jake Diebler to call timeout with 7:48 to play as MSU’s lead grew to 49-45.
After the Buckeyes cut it back to a two-point game, Scott scored on a putback. Then Cooper hit a wing jumper. Fears drained two free throws, and Scott delivered a bounce pass to Cooper for a dunk. Kohler’s layup made it a 10-point MSU lead and prompted Dielber to call another timeout with 3:36 left.
Thornton helped cut it to 63-60 with two layups as part of a 7-0 run. But Scott hit one of two free throws, and Cooper hit a pair with 2.8 seconds left to seal the Spartans’ third win in their last four games.
The Spartans travel to No. 7 Purdue for an 8 p.m. tip Thursday (8 p.m./Peacock/NBC Sports), the first of back-to-back road games in the state of Indiana. MSU has lost seven straight road games in West Lafayette and has not won at Mackey Arena since a 94-79 victory on Feb. 20, 2014. The Spartans won the lone meeting last year at Breslin, 75-66, on Feb. 18, 2025, to end a five-game losing streak to the Boilermakers. After that, MSU heads to Bloomington to face Indiana next Sunday, March 1 (3:45 p.m./CBS). On Friday at Mackey, Purdue (22-5, 12-4) steamrolled to a 93-64 blowout win over the Hoosiers (17-10, 8-8) on Friday, 93-64, at Mackey.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball score in tight win vs Ohio State at home
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An unexpected dog fight at home deep into February as the games continue to grow more and more meaningful and feel more and more like the impending postseason.
Carson Cooper, Jordan Scott and Jeremy Fears Jr. came to the rescue and reinvigorated No. 15 MSU in the second half. The Spartans managed yet another second-half rally while wearing down the plucky Buckeyes for a 66-60 victory at Breslin Center on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Cooper scored 14 of his career-high 20 points after MSU (22-5, 12-4 Big Ten) trailed at halftime for the seventh time in its past 12 games, and the senior also grabbed 11 rebounds as the Spartans finished with a 43-26 edge on the glass.
Scott had 10 of his 12 points after halftime, while Fears scored nine of his 11 points in the final period and finished with eight assists. Cooper was 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line, and Jaxon Kohler added nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
Bruce Thornton scored 32 points on 12-for-22 shooting for Ohio State (17-10, 9-7), which ran out of gas in the second half without two of its top three scorers. The senior kept the Buckeyes in it into the final seconds with 11 of their final 13 points over the final 6:36, including two layups with less than a minute left as part of a 7-0 run after MSU went ahead by 10 with 1:33 to play.
Christophe Tilly added 10 points and seven rebounds for OSU.
MORE MSU: What MSU basketball must do to bolster résumé
Brutal beginning
Slow starts continued to plague MSU.
The 23 points the Spartans scored in the first half against the Buckeyes were their second-fewest behind the 21 in the opening 20 minutes of a road loss at Minnesota, MSU’s most shocking defeat of the season. It was the sixth time in Big Ten play this season, starting with a Jan. 8 win over Northwestern, that the Spartans scored fewer than 30 points in the opening half.
The Buckeyes led 23-20 at halftime despite playing without guard John Mobley Jr. (hand) for the third straight game and forward Devin Royal, who was sick. And starting forward Amare Bynum, also questionable with an illness, picked up two early fouls and played just 12:44 in the opening half.
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Thornton dominated early, scoring 16 first-half points on 7-for-11 shooting as MSU’s guard looked sluggish defensively. And Kohler picked up his second foul just over three minutes into the half, then returned and got called for his third with 3:48 left before the break. He had just one 3-pointer and five rebounds in the period.
Without Kohler, the Spartans got dominated on the interior. The Buckeyes had a 22-8 scoring edge in the paint and capitalized on seven MSU turnovers. At the same time, the Spartans’ offense barely generated many good looks and opened the game 8-for-27. Fears was 0-for-3 and scored just two points on two free throws.
Inside grind
Before long, the Spartans started to take advantage of OSU’s depleted interior.
Kohler began the second half on the bench, with Kur Teng replacing him in the starting group. Scott moved to the wing and Coen Carr slid into Kohler’s power forward spot. But it was Cooper, though, who delivered the big pivot points to get MSU moving again.
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The 6-11 center hit a post-up hook shot, got fouled and drained two more free throws, then hit an elbow jumper against OSU’s zone all within the first 4:17 of the final half. Then Scott got fouled on a 3-point attempt, hitting two free throws to give MSU its first lead since before the midpoint of the first half. Fears followed that by driving and getting the Buckeyes’ defense to collapse as he hit a cutting Cam Ward for a dunk. Then Fears drained another jumper to put the Spartans ahead 38-35 with 13:24 to play.
Thornton drilled a 3-pointer to tie it and the Buckeyes wouldn’t go away, particularly when Izzo rested his starters just before the midway point of the second half. A Christoph Tilly jumper put OSU back ahead by three with 10:55 to play.
But out of the media timeout, Izzo’s starters came back and asserted themselves with a 9-2 run started by a Scott 3-pointer and a Kohler elbow jumper inside the Buckeyes’ zone. Fears hit a pair of free throws, then found Cooper for a pump-fake layup that forced OSU coach Jake Diebler to call timeout with 7:48 to play as MSU’s lead grew to 49-45.
After the Buckeyes cut it back to a two-point game, Scott scored on a putback. Then Cooper hit a wing jumper. Fears drained two free throws, and Scott delivered a bounce pass to Cooper for a dunk. Kohler’s layup made it a 10-point MSU lead and prompted Dielber to call another timeout with 3:36 left.
Thornton helped cut it to 63-60 with two layups as part of a 7-0 run. But Scott hit one of two free throws, and Cooper hit a pair with 2.8 seconds left to seal the Spartans’ third win in their last four games.
What’s next
The Spartans travel to No. 7 Purdue for an 8 p.m. tip Thursday (8 p.m./Peacock/NBC Sports), the first of back-to-back road games in the state of Indiana. MSU has lost seven straight road games in West Lafayette and has not won at Mackey Arena since a 94-79 victory on Feb. 20, 2014. The Spartans won the lone meeting last year at Breslin, 75-66, on Feb. 18, 2025, to end a five-game losing streak to the Boilermakers. After that, MSU heads to Bloomington to face Indiana next Sunday, March 1 (3:45 p.m./CBS). On Friday at Mackey, Purdue (22-5, 12-4) steamrolled to a 93-64 blowout win over the Hoosiers (17-10, 8-8) on Friday, 93-64, at Mackey.
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball score in tight win vs Ohio State at home
Continue reading...
