Michigan State basketball at Ohio State tipoff: Matchup analysis and a prediction

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A familiar face at Ohio State, Bruce Thornton, is leading the Buckeyes in scoring at 17.4 points per game.

• What: Michigan State at Ohio State

• When: 8 p.m. Friday

• Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio.

• TV/Radio: Fox/Spartan Sports Network radio, including WJIM 1240-AM and WMMQ 94.9-FM; SiriusXM Ch. 381 (MSU broadcast), 382 (Ohio State broadcast)

• Records/Rankings: MSU is 11-2 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten and ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and No. 18 in The Associated Press Poll and is No. 20 via the college basketball analytics site Kenpom.com. Ohio State is 9-4 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten and unranked in both the major polls and rated No. 28 by Kenpom.

• Betting line: Ohio State -2

• Coaches: Michigan State — Tom Izzo is 718-297 in his 30th season as a head coach, all with the Spartans. Ohio State — Jake Diebler is 17-7 in his second season as a head coach, his first full season. He took over for the final 11 games last season, going 8-3, after Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann in mid-February.

• Series: MSU leads 75-61 all-time. The Buckeyes won the only meeting last year, 60-57, on a last-second shot at Breslin Center.

Projected lineups

MSU

C (10) Szymon Zapala (7-0) 5.4

F (0) Jaxon Kohler (6-9) 8.1

G (3) Jaden Akins (6-4) 13.7

G (5) Tre Holloman (6-2) 7.4

PG (1) Jeremy Fears Jr. (6-2) 7.4

Ohio State

C (13) Sean Stewart (6-9) 5.9

F (21) Devin Royal (6-6) 14.8

SF (12) Evan Mahaffey (6-6) 5.2

G (0) John Mobley (6-1) 12.2

G (2) Bruce Thornton (6-2) 17.4

• MSU update: The Spartans are coming off probably their most ho-hum performance of the season, an 80-62 win over Western Michigan, during which, for the first time really, they looked like they were going through the motions for much of the game. Otherwise, it’s been a heckuva start — somewhere between awfully intriguing and inspiring. At 11-2 and 2-0 in the Big Ten, MSU is in a good place as it swings back into Big Ten play full-time. MSU’s record is part of that, but so is how the Spartans have looked…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/michigan-state-basketball-ohio-state-235041868.html

Author : Lansing State Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-02 23:50:00

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