Michigan State went on the road to face Ohio State on Sunday afternoon and came away with a dominating 62-41 victory. This was the first time the Spartans have won consecutive games since Jan. 7, and it came in a stifling defensive performance from start to finish. Ohio State shot just 28% from the field, and 20% from 3-point range.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was happy with the road win over OSU on Sunday, but knows the Spartans haven't always lived up to the program's standards this season. When asked by the media about living up to those high expectations, Izzo was honest.

"I built the monster, now I'm just trying to feed the damn thing," Izzo said.

Michigan State's defense on star freshman Brice Sensabaugh set the tone for the game. Sensabaugh scored only eight points, and shot 3-for-14 from the field, and 1-for-7 from deep. On the season, Sensabaugh averages 16.4 points per game, while shooting 43% from beyond the arc. Needless to say, taking this big scorer out of the game really gave the Spartans a huge advantage.

For much of the afternoon, Michigan State kept distance with the Buckeyes, leading 27-14 at the half and maintaining a double-digit lead for the first five minutes of the second half, then Ohio State went on a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to five points with 11:25 to play in the game. The Spartans have had trouble maintaining leads this season, and Sunday felt like another that had the potential to slip away, but MSU made sure that would not be the case.

After Ohio State cut the Spartans' lead down to 38-33 in the second half, Michigan State went on a 13-2 run to take a 51-35 lead. Joey Hauser got the run started by knocking down a 3-point basket, followed by back-to-back buckets from Tyson Walker. Then the Spartans ratcheted up the defense by shutting down the Buckeye offense to a tune of two points in a 5-plus minute span. The Buckeyes never got it down to single-digits the rest of the day.

There wasn't much offense to speak of in this contest, but Hauser, the senior forward, left his mark in this one. Hauser scored 22 points, while shooting 8-for-13 from the field, and 6-for-9 from 3-point range. The Spartan guards did a great job locating Hauser all afternoon for open spot-up jumpers.

Following the 62-41 victory over the Buckeyes in Columbus, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had some positive remarks about his team.

When Izzo was asked about Jaden Akins' versatility on the floor, Izzo said, "He's so versatile, he can rebound it and he can guard it."

Sunday wasn't a great shooting showing for Akins, but he's shooting 38% from 3-point range on the season, so combining his defensive and rebounding ability with the usual shot-making from deep, Akins has established himself as a serious threat on this Spartan roster.

Izzo was asked about Tyson Walker's consistency with the Spartans and Izzo said, "Tyson Walker has been as consistent as the day is long."

Walker has scored in double figures 10 of his last 12 games and gives the Spartans a legitimate three-level scorer. Walker, who's a 40% 3-point shooter himself, has also crafted an elite ability to score in the mid-range, which makes him such a tough player to guard given how quick he is with the ball as well. If the Spartans are going to make a run in March, Walker will have much to say about it.

Even though the Spartans came away with a 21-point victory, coach Izzo was not all too happy with his team's shot selection early in the game.

"We were so three-point happy, we looked like an AAU team out there," Izzo said.

The Spartans started the game 0-for-5 from 3-point range before Hauser cashed in a triple with 11:21 to go in the first half. MSU finished the game by going 7-for-22 from deep (32%), but six of those makes came from Hauser.

Michigan State will return to the Breslin Center on Wednesday to take on a struggling Minnesota team (7-16 overall, 1-12 in Big Ten play) at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.