Michigan State Men's Basketball beats Ohio State on senior day, 84-78

It was senior day in East Lansing on Saturday afternoon, and when the clock reached zero there were smiles on the faces of seniors Malik Hall, Tyson Walker, and Jason Whitens as the Michigan State Spartans defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 84-78.

Junior A.J. Hoggard led all scorers with 23 points to pair with seven assists to just one turnover. Joey Hauser scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Walker contributed 15 points and six assists. Sophomore Jaden Akins scored 13 points and Hall scored 10 points, all in the first half.

The Spartans once again shot the ball well from the long line, hitting 12-of-20 from 3-point range. Hauser was a perfect 3-of-3, Akins shots 3-of-4, Hoggard was 2-of-3, and Hall was 2-of-4.

Offensively, the Spartan started with a bang, thanks to an alley-oop dunk from Hall to open scoring for Michigan State. Then, just 90 seconds into the contest, Hoggard hit a three-pointer to spark an early 15-0 run for the Green and White, resulting in an early 13-point lead in the first eight minutes of play.

The Spartans were generally able to keep the Buckeyes at arm’s length for the majority of the first half, thanks to a strong transition game (17 fast break points), strong three-point shooting (8-of-14), and by limiting Ohio State to just two offensive rebounds.

With just over six minutes to play in the first half, OSU briefly cut the lead to four points following a 3-pointer from Bruce Thornton. But Malik Hall scored five straight points to push the lead back up to nine points, which is where the lead would remain at halftime.

At the break, the Spartans led 43-34 thanks to 10 points from Hall, nine points from sophomore Jaden Akins, and eight points from Hoggard. Both Walker and Hoggard had four assists at the half.

The Buckeye’s refused to go away quietly, however. Ohio State’s Brice Sensabaugh hit two 3-pointers to cut the lead to five early in the second half. The Spartans were able to stem the Buckeye tide, though, with sharp execution on offense leading to open shots and layups from Walker and Hoggard. At the under 12-minute media timeout, the Spartans led 61-49.

The teams traded 3-pointers coming out of the break before the Buckeyes went on a quick seven-point run with six minutes to play. The run was thanks in part to a sloppy turnover on an inbounds play and a missed one-and-one free throw from Hoggard. After a made three from Thornton with 5:40 to play cut the lead to just three points, Tom Izzo called a quick timeout to settle his team.

Coach Izzo drew up a play which ended with a Tyson Walker layup to put the Spartans up by five, and the Buckeyes would get no closer. MSU needed to hit 10 free throws in the final three-and-half minutes of the game. But, with just 5.9 seconds left on the clock, Hall, Whitens, Walker, and Hauser (who also went through the senior day ceremony last year before deciding to return) were able to kiss the Spartan helmet at mid-court and be recognized by the home crowd.

With the win over Ohio State, Michigan State will now wait for the results of the six remaining Big Ten games on Sunday to find out when and who the team will face next week in the Big Ten Tournament. MSU is still in contention for the No. 3 through the No. 7 seed.

The Big Ten Tournament begins on Wednesday in Chicago at the United Center. The Spartans will begin play either on Thursday or Friday.

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