Spartans’ swarm Ohio St.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tom Izzo is not a coach who likes to take his foot off the gas pedal.
But he did, and as a result, 11th-ranked Michigan State had more fuel in the tank.
Adreian Payne scored 15 points, Draymond Green had 12 — and a critical talk with the coach — and the defense-minded Spartans beat No. 3 Ohio State 58-48 Saturday night, ending the Buckeyes’ 39-game home winning streak.
“I told him the most important thing for us is going to be energy, trying to keep our energy level high,” Green said of his conversation before Friday’s workout. “Pretty much everything was just a walkthrough, knowing your assignments. That was really key for us.”
Izzo admitted giving the Spartans a light practice the day before a major showdown was “something I never do.”
“I knew we were just dragging because we had gone, like, 11 straight days,” he said. “I listened to my players. Draymond Green took care of (talking to his teammates) and it was just a focused walkthrough. Those kinds of things, they don’t come up on the stat sheet. Nobody understands. But that’s what leadership and togetherness is all about.”
The Spartans (20-5, 9-3 Big Ten) pulled into a tie with the Buckeyes (21-4, 9-3) for first place in the conference by playing a withering, physical defense. Ohio State hit just 26 percent of its shots from the field (14 of 53).
“You have to give them a lot of credit. That’s what they hang their hat on — pressure defense and limiting us to one shot,” said Aaron Craft, who almost doubled his average with 15 points for Ohio State. “We got a little selfish and we were looking for our own shots.”
Swapping body blows and occasional buckets, the teams took turns making mini-runs in the second half. Ohio State pulled to 44-40 on a 15-footer by All-American forward Jared Sullinger, but Keith Appling, who had 14 points for the Spartans, hit two free throws and Derrick Nix coaxed in a baby hook to push the lead back to eight.
Payne then banked in a left-handed shot over Sullinger, before Sullinger was called for a charge to pick up his fourth foul with 2 minutes left. Next Green drove around Deshaun Thomas for a baseline layup to stretch the lead to 10.
Ohio State never got closer than eight again.
“I thought we did a good enough job defensively to win the game,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “It all came down to our inability to put the ball in the basket.”
Izzo was happy with what he called perhaps his team’s best defensive effort of the year, but also said he was relieved that the Buckeyes continually misfired even when unguarded.
“Maybe they wore down a little bit, I don’t know,” he said. “They missed some 3s, a couple of open, open ones late that I’ve seen them make on a regular basis.”
Sullinger had 17 points and 16 rebounds but was just 5 of 15 from the field. Deshaun Thomas and William Buford, averaging a combined 30 points, totaled just 12 — each hitting just 2 of 12 shots from the field.
“I wasn’t expecting the double (team). Michigan State didn’t show that on film,” Sullinger said. “They had a great game plan.”
Nix, who had shared with Payne the responsibility for guarding Sullinger, was stunned when told Sullinger’s stats.
“He had 10 turnovers? Wow,” he said. “I guess we did frustrate him.”
The Buckeyes were held 29 points under their season scoring average.
Sullinger said he and his teammates lost sight of their strengths.
“We’ve played 25 games,” he said. “We decided in the 25th game that we weren’t going to play our system.”
Payne had a big game a year ago when the Spartans came to his home state and lost. This time the Dayton native was 6 for 6 from the field and also had four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
A former AAU teammate of Sullinger and Craft, Payne was cheered by his father, brothers and cousins in a raucous rooting section behind the Michigan State bench.
“I just love playing here in my home state,” he said. “My family gets to come up. They don’t get to travel that much to get to all my games. So it means a lot.”
The teams meet again on March 4 in East Lansing, Mich.
Izzo praised the Buckeyes, despite their worst game of the season.
“I don’t feel any different than I felt a month ago, or six months ago: Ohio State’s the best team in the league,” he said. “But on this given day we were able to get them.”
NO. 1 KENTUCKY 69, VANDERBILT 63
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put Kentucky ahead to stay and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title with their 17th straight win.
Kentucky (25-1, 11-0) disrupted Vanderbilt with aggressive defense in the first half, and the Wildcats held off a furious charge in a sold-out and electric Memorial Gym by scoring the final eight points of the game. The young and talented Wildcats wound up holding off the experienced Vanderbilt (17-8, 6-4) squad that had been predicted to be their best challenge this season.
NO. 2 SYRACUSE 85,
CONNECTICUT 67
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Scoop Jardine sparked a game-deciding rally with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the closing minutes, scoring a season-high 21 points as Syracuse (25-1, 12-1 Big East) earned its fifth consecutive win since suffering its only loss of the season at Notre Dame.
NO. 4 MISSOURI 72,
NO. 6 BAYLOR 57
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Phil Pressey scored 19 points, making four of Missouri’s season-best 14 3-pointers.
Sixth man Michael Dixon also had four 3-pointers and Marcus Denmon added three for Missouri (23-2, 10-2 Big 12), which shot 50 percent from long range. Missouri is 14-0 at home and got an easier test a week after needing an 11-0 run to beat Kansas by three. Both games were sellouts although the matchup against Baylor (21-4, 8-4), carrying a higher ranking, failed to match that atmosphere.
NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA 70,
NO. 19 VIRGINIA
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyler Zeller had 25 points and nine rebounds as the Tar Heels (21-4, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) regrouped from Wednesday night’s stunning loss to rival Duke on a last-second 3-pointer.
NO. 7 KANSAS 81,
OKLAHOMA ST. 66
LAWRENCE, Kan.— Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson each logged impressive double-doubles for Kansas, which wasted a big chunk of a 29-point second-half cushion before pulling away for the victory.
TENNESSEE 75,
NO. 8 FLORIDA 70
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Trae Golden scored 17 points, Jeronne Maymon added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Tennessee ended Florida’s home-winning streak at 19.
NO. 9 MURRAY ST. 82,
AUSTIN PEAY 62
MURRAY, Ky. — Isaiah Canaan had 23 points and six assists as Murray State bounced back from its first loss of the season.
On Thursday night, the Racers (24-1, 12-1 Ohio Valley Conference) became the last team in Division I to lose this season when it fell to Tennessee State.
NO. 10 DUKE 73, MARYLAND 55
DURHAM, N.C. — Miles Plumlee had 13 points and a career-high 22 rebounds, helping Duke pull away for the win.
Seth Curry scored 19 points and Mason Plumlee added 16 points and 10 rebounds while big brother Miles became the first Duke player with 20 rebounds since Elton Brand in 1998.
NO. 14 UNLV 65,
NO. 13 SAN DIEGO ST. 63
LAS VEGAS — Mike Moser scored 19 points and made a key steal late that helped UNLV to the close victory.
NO. 15 FLORIDA ST. 64, MIAMI 59
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Bernard James scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and Florida State snapped Miami’s five-game winning streak.
NO. 16 SAINT MARY’S 82,
SANTA CLARA 67
MORAGA, Calif. — Rob Jones had 25 points and 12 rebounds, Matthew Dellavedova added 16 points and 10 assists, and Saint Mary’s rebounded from a loss at Gonzaga to beat its cross-bay rival Santa Clara.
WICHITA ST. 89,
NO. 17 CREIGHTON 68
OMAHA, Neb. — Joe Ragland scored 24 points, Ben Smith matched his career high with 22 and Wichita State moved a step closer to the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship.
NO. 18 MARQUETTE 95,
CINCINNATI 78
MILWAUKEE — Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder scored 23 points each, leading Marquette to its ninth win in 10 games.
GEORGIA 70,
NO. 20 MISSISSIPPI ST. 68, OT
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 20 points, including a crucial 3-pointer late in overtime.
NO. 24 LOUISVILLE 77,
WEST VIRGINIA 74
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kyle Kuric scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures as Louisville (20-5, 8-4 Big East) scored 13 of the game’s final 16 points to extend its winning streak to six games.
PRINCETON 70, NO. 25 HARVARD 62
PRINCETON, N.J. — Ian Hummer had 20 points and Princeton handed Harvard its first Ivy League loss of the season.
