From Mary Landers ... Ohio State 69, Michigan State 67: Spartans stumble late, enter Big Ten tournament as 3 seed By Joe Rexrode Detroit Free Press Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For stretches Sunday at Value City Arena, Michigan State looked like the team it wants to be in the postseason. For the most important stretch, the Spartans were a mess. And the two things they need in smaller supply from here on - fouls and turnovers - buried them in a 69-67 loss to Ohio State in the regular-season finale. No. 22 MSU (23-8, 12-6) went scoreless for the final 4:30 of the game, with Gary Harris missing a potential tying jump shot at the buzzer. It was one of four missed shots to go with three turnovers in the Spartans final seven possessions, in a game they led most of the way. So MSU will be the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis, starting play at about 9 p.m. Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the winner of Thursdays game between No. 6 seed Iowa and No. 11 seed Northwestern. “We did a very poor job (late), and that falls on me,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “We just didnt have anything in sync.” Some of that can be traced to foul trouble that had MSU starters Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine on the bench for half of the first half and another long stretch early in the second. Izzo seethed after the game about the officiating and mentioned the fouls - MSU had 22 to Ohio States 12 - in almost every answer he gave. “Half my team was on the bench for half the game, and Im getting sick of that,” said Izzo, who had a brief exchange of words with a taunting OSU fan as he left the court. “So give them credit, they played hard. And give us credit, we played hard at times and then half my teams on the bench.” Adreian Payne continued to play well against his home-state Buckeyes, scoring a game-high 23 points. But he also had five turnovers, one late when OSU coach Thad Matta pulled a surprise and brought a quick double team to him. “Being a senior, you cant have that,” Payne said of his turnovers. Payne also missed a three-pointer with 29 seconds left and MSU down 68-67. He appeared to have an open look, but OSUs Sam Thompson soared in to contest, forcing a double-clutch and line drive. OSUs Aaron Craft pounced on the ball on his senior day, then made one of two free throws, then forced Denzel Valentine into a turnover on MSUs next possession. “Some of the credit has to go to those guys,” MSUs Keith Appling said of the Buckeyes (23-8, 10-8), who had 10 steals and scored 21 points off MSUs 16 turnovers. LaQuinton Ross led OSU with 22 points, finding much more room to operate when Dawson was on the bench. And the Spartans found some things the can build on moving forward, and some things they need to ditch quickly. “I saw glimpses,” Valentine said. “We just need to get stops and take care of the ball at the key times.” Contact Joe Rexrode: jrexrode@freepress. Follow him on Twitter @joerexrode. Check out his MSU blog at freep/heyjoe
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:40:36 +0000
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