Ohio State (18-12, 9-8) vs. Michigan State (24-6, 12-5)

Date: Sunday, March 9
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Place: Value City Arena - capacity 19,049
TV: Big Ten Network with the “Voice of the Green Bay Packers” Wayne Larivee and Greg Kelser.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 57 stations across Buckeyeland with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Series History: Ohio State has an all-time record of 47-55 vs. Michigan State, but the Buckeyes are 31-20 vs. the Spartans in games played in Columbus.
Last Meeting : Jan. 15, 2008. Michigan State won 66-60 in East Lansing. Michigan State led by as many as 21 points in the first half, but the Buckeyes trimmed the Spartans’ advantage down to three early in the second half. Unfortunately, Ohio State could not get any closer. Jamar Butler led the Buckeyes with 21 points.

Again, another must-win for Ohio State if they want to go to the NCAA tournament, and it will also add another quality win to their resume. The only problem is that the Buckeyes will face the Spartans in the first round of the Big Ten tournament next weekend in Indianapolis, too.

Which Michigan State team will show up in Columbus on Sunday? That’s of course if they even make it through the snowstorm.

Will it be the one that thrashed Indiana 104-73 just six days ago, or the one that struggled to defeat Illinois 59-51, Wednesday night?

Michigan State is 3-5 in Big Ten road games this season and just 6-18 in the past three seasons.

Turnovers have plagued Michigan State most of the year, but the Spartans have cut down on the miscues late in the season. The Spartans had only nine their win over Indiana on March 2, 10 against Illinois, and 37 in their last four games.

Raymar Morgan, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward from Canton McKinley, leads the Spartans in scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game. Second on the team in scoring is 6-foot senior point guard Drew Neitzel, who also leads Michigan State in assists (4.2 apg), and is the team’s best three-point shooter (39.7%).

The Spartans’ top rebounder is 6-foot-10 junior forward Goran Suton, who averages 8.8 points and 8.2 boards per game. Rounding out the starting five is 6-foot-10 senior center Drew Naymick (4.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg), and 6-foot-4 freshman guard Durrell Summers (5.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg).

Once again, Ohio State is going to have to play hard for 40 minutes from start to finish, plus the Buckeyes must attack the basket like they did against Purdue. Defensively, OSU needs to find the shooter on the perimeter and defend it well.

This is a game Ohio State can and should win, since the Buckeyes are playing at home. The question is, can they do it twice in a week’s span? They will have to if they plan on advancing to the NCAAs.

Prediction: Ohio State 69, Michigan State 64

Tags: Buckeye Basketball //