Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Drop Second-Straight Ranked Team With Win over Spartans
By John Porentas

The blizzard that socked Columbus with a record 20 inches of snow over the last two days apparently didn't affect the electrical supply, because all of a sudden the light is going on for the OSU men's basketball team.

In their final game of the Big Ten regular-season the Buckeyes (19-12, 10-8 Big Ten) followed up their stunning upset of Purdue in their last game with another win over a ranked team, this time dropping No. 17/18 Michigan State (24-7, 12-6 Big Ten) by a final of 63-54 to the delight of 19,049 brave souls who defied the snowy streets of Columbus to be on hand at the Value City Arena for the game and for senior day for Jamar Butler, Matt Terwilliger and Othello Hunter.

The OSU team that has struggled to 12 losses this seasons struggled for about 28 minutes against the Spartans, but then that light went on, at least at the defensive end of the court, and the Buckeyes erased a 10-point Michigan State lead and won going away. The light also went on for, appropriately, sophomore swing man David Lighty.

The Spartans led at 45-35 with 12:02 remaining to play. Coming out of a timeout at 11:06 the Buckeyes went on 7-0 run that took exactly one minute on the game clock. Jamar Butler hit two free throws, Lighty scored a fast break layup and Lighty then drilled a three to cut the MSU lead to 45-42 with 10:06 left to play. While the Buckeyes were scoring the Spartans were committing three of their 21 turnovers to let the Buckeyes get close again.

"The turnovers were the thing that killed us and that's what killed us all year, so you have to give them credit for getting them and us blame for giving them. It's just very disappointing," said disappointed MSU Head Coach Tom Izzo.

The Buckeyes definitely cranked up the defense in the last 10 minutes. Offensively, they got a performance that was remarkably similar to the one that helped them beat Purdue earlier in the week, but this time there was one new standout. As he was against Purdue, Jamar Butler was effective against the Spartans. Butler scored a game-high 20 points. Against Purdue it was freshman Evan Turner who was able to drive the basketball to augment Butler's offense, but against the Spartans it was Lighty's turn to assume that role. Lighty slashed his way to 12 points on five-of-five shooting from the field and one-for-one shooting from three point range. Lighty's driving was the key to OSU's offense.

"That's what the coaches have been trying to get me to do," said Lighty.

"They say when I attack it opens up a lot of things for my teammates, open shots, it opens up the post, things like that, and offensive rebounds because of the rotation of the defense. I'm just trying to be aggressive."

Lighty's play helped open things up for Butler and for OSU baseline players Othello Hunter and Kosta Koufos. Hunter had 13 and Koufos 11. Lighty also collected a team-high five rebounds.

"David I thought played a very good game," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"He gave up the one rebound with five or six minutes to go then got some huge rebounds defensively, got his hands on some balls, then offensively he was being strong with the ball and getting it in positions where we needed it."

Lighty's overall play was never more stellar than during the OSU run in the second half. His steal led to his three pointer. He immediately followed up that shot with a spectacular blocked shot on MSU guard Drew Neitzel at the other end of the court. Neitzel appeared to have a breakaway fast break layup when Lighty when high to pin the ball against the glass and rob him of the easy basket.

"Whether it was a block or a goal tend it was a big-time play there," said Izzo of Lighty's defensive play against Neitzel. (Photo of the play by Jim Davidson)

MSU's Ramar Morgan stopped the run with a jump shot at the 8:55 mark but the Buckeyes had seized the momentum, particularly at the defensive end of the court. OSU outscored MSU 21-7 over the last 8:55 of the game to claim the win going away. Over that time span the Spartans managed just two more field goals, both by Morgan. The Canton, Ohio, native finished the game with a team-high 19 points. Morgan's play was one of the few bright spots in his team's play that Izzo could find in the defeat.

"We just didn't have enough guys that played good," said Izzo.

"I thought Morgan played an incredible game, we just couldn't keep him on the floor long enough. I thought Chris Allen played very well, and after that you're going to have to go very far to find a pulse," Izzo said.

Though disappointed with the play of his own team, Izzo was impressed with the Buckeyes.

"I don't know if I'm more disappointed with myself, my team, the officiating, the whole thing was frustrating to me, but we didn't do the job and give them credit, they did," said Izzo.

"I think they played harder after the 10 minute mark. When they started driving the ball more and everything was a foul, and I mean that, I think that changed the game some, then we got passive and they got more aggressive, and I think that changed it (too)," Izzo said.

The second-consecutive win over a ranked team raised OSU's hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament bid should the Buckeyes not win the Big Ten Tournament.

"These guys are playing very good basketball right now," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta lobbying for his team.

"You hope that people remember what we started with and where we started and how we're finishing. You hope that that's taken into consideration."

One person Matta didn't have to lobby was Izzo who was willing to champion OSU's argument as a tournament-worthy team.

"This is a good basketball team. They lost some games because there's other good basketball teams. Do I think Ohio State is deserving of being in the tournament? Hands down," said Izzo.

OSU's next chance to prove themselves NCAA tournament worthy will be in the Big Ten tournament. As the No. 5 seed they will have a bye on the opening day of the tournament, then meet No. 4 seed Michigan State again on day two of Big Ten tournament play.

"The beat us the first time, we beat them this time, it's going to be a grudge match," said Butler of the upcoming rematch with the Spartans.

"We know what they're going to do and they know what we're going to do so it comes down to mental and physical toughness at that point. Whoever shows up ready to play, that's who's going to win the game."

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