There wasn’t too much at stake for Ohio State when it went on the road to play Michigan State Sunday, but there was plenty on the line for the Spartans. They were looking to get a share of another Big Ten title and to send off all-everything senior guard Cassius Winston with a win in his last game in the Breslin Center.
For the Buckeyes though, a solid showing on the road against a team with enough talent to make the Final Four could be a shot in the arm and confidence boost heading into the postseason. Things haven’t gone so well on the road against teams in the upper half of the Big Ten.
It didn’t fare much better Sunday either. Despite digging out of an early hole to tie the game in the second half, Michigan State used all the emotion and toughness in front of the home crowd to pull away and win 80-69.
Here are three things we learned.
Next … Bad early starts on the road
The starts have to be better against quality teams
It’s kind of become a trend. Ohio State goes away from home, gets off to an ugly start, then has to expend all kinds of energy to claw all the way back. That’s hard enough, and it shows fight, but climbing out of such a hole against really good teams is not the blueprint for beating those have the athletic ability of a team like Michigan State.
Going forward, all games will be away from home. And while it’s not the same as being in an opponent’s arena, the Buckeyes will need to settle in early at a neutral site going forward, or it’ll most likely be an early exit in tournament play.
It’s hard to fathom why it takes some time to settle down and focus, but somehow that mindset has to be there at the jump.
Next … Throw this one away
Remember where this team has come from
Look, it never leaves a good taste in anyone’s mouth to lose a game, but winning this one was always going to be a Lord of the Rings journey. It was senior night in East Lansing, and that meant the very last game in the Breslin Center for Cassius Winston. It’s also March and the team is coached by a guy named Tom Izzo trying to get his squad to win a Big Ten Championship.
Ohio State went into an arena that was always going to be in a frenzy with all that was on the line, and it handled the first punch, battled back, then succumbed to a second lift by the Spartans. It stinks, but had the Buckeyes been able to pull this one off, it would have been one that raised some eyebrows across the country.
Next … This team can do some damage in the Big Ten Tournament
Time for Ohio State to do some damage in Indy
Despite the loss, this is still a team that won nine of its last twelve and is peaking at the right moment. The turnovers have gotten much better, the team is taking better shots, and a couple of players that weren’t much of a scoring option early are starting to join the fray (see C.J. Walker and E.J. Liddell).
Over the last few weeks when Ohio State found an antidote for the January ills it had, it beat ranked teams Maryland, Michigan twice, and Illinois. It played tougher on the road and has found some things and roles for parts of the lineup that were up in the air.
That all equates to a team that can not only win one game in the Big Ten Tournament, but could be a sleeper to do some significant damage. There’s a lot to like with what this team has evolved into, and it might be getting some help back with Kyle Young to add into the mix.
Don’t be surprised if OSU goes on a little run here in a neutral court setting.
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