This isn’t your father’s No. 13 Big Ten seed.
The Ohio State basketball team came into the Big Ten Tournament playing a bit better and now seems to have completely turned the corner and given a lot of hope for next season. OSU did it again on Friday with another upset win over No. 4 Michigan State, 68-58 in a quarterfinal matchup in Chicago.
With the win, Ohio State becomes the lowest seed ever to reach the semifinals where it’ll face No. 1 seed Purdue on Saturday. And it wasn’t by fluke but a game in which the Buckeyes led from early all the way through the bell. Even more impressive, OSU put on a clinic without leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh because of a knee injury.
It remains to be seen if Sensabaugh will be able to return for the game against Purdue, but that’s a story for another day.
Ohio State played great defense all game long, holding the Spartans to just 38.2% from the field and answering every single run Michigan State went on. In fact, the Spartans came out of the second half with a lot of emotion and effort and quickly cut the OSU deficit to two points. But the Buckeyes countered and extended the lead back to double digits and were able to methodically take the game by the horns and wrestle away victory.
One of the stars of the game for the second-straight game was freshman Roddy Gayle, Jr. He finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, many of which game in critical moments. Another freshman, Bruce Thorton, led the Buckeyes with 21 points and six assists to continue to show he’s going to be a handful in the future. His ball handling and ability to create open looks for teammates were key.
If defense was the star of the game, Ohio State’s ability to take care of the ball and dictate the pace wasn’t far behind. The Buckeyes only turned the ball over five times and limited the Spartans’ fast break points.
THE OHIO STATE BASKETBALL TEAM IS MOVING ON!#TEAM124 #GOBUCKS pic.twitter.com/L1nEiWKAN0
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 10, 2023
It doesn’t get any easier. OSU will now have to pick itself up after three games in three days and match the physicality of Purdue and big man Zach Edey on Saturday.
And at this point, hey — why not?
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