The past four seasons head coach Tom Izzo and his Spartans have spent the last weeks of February fighting off opponents trying to spoil their Big Ten Championship dreams.
But with conference title hopes gone, the MSU men’s basketball team (17-10 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) gets to play the spoiler tonight in Columbus, Ohio. The Spartans hope to kill the title dreams of No. 18 Ohio State (19-6, 10-4).
“It’s kind of a new experience,” Izzo said. “We’re good enough to do some damage, yet not good enough to win the league.”
The Buckeyes have been on the move in Big Ten standings the past week, falling out of a tie for first place with Indiana after losing to the Hoosiers on Wednesday.
After a 77-66 win over Purdue on Saturday and the Spartans’ 57-54 win against Indiana, Ohio State found itself again sharing the top spot in the conference.
Buckeye head coach Jim O’Brien said his team controls its own fate.
“We only talk about controlling what we can control,” he said. “We can’t worry about what Indiana and other teams are doing - we just have to worry about ourselves.“
But Izzo said with the quality personnel in the Buckeye stable, O’Brien shouldn’t worry much.
“They have a veteran backcourt and they do things by committee inside - but it’s a good committee,” Izzo said. “They’re a very sound team, a very solid team, and that means you have got to earn a win from them, because they won’t give you any.”
MSU has already earned a win over the Buckeyes this year, downing them 67-64 on Feb. 10 at Breslin Center.
“I know they’re going to want payback,” freshman forward Alan Anderson said. “I know they can’t wait to get us in their home, but they know we’re going to play tough, just like we did (against Indiana).”
In the win, the Spartans were able to hold the Ohio State backcourt of Brian Brown, Brent Darby and Boban Savovic in check, especially in the first half. The guard trio combined for six points on 2-of-15 shooting in the half.
“I think we did a pretty good job on them,” Izzo said. “Darby, Savovic, Brown - all of them missed some shots and we defended them pretty well. It was kind of a happy medium.”
A pair of 18-point performances from junior forward Adam Ballinger and sophomore guard Marcus Taylor led the Spartans in the win. Ballinger also hauled in 10 rebounds in the game.
Controlling Ballinger is a challenge for the Buckeyes, with the forward playing well lately. The 6-foot-9 Indiana native was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts versus Minnesota and Indiana - shooting 60 percent and averaging 16.5 points and eight rebounds in the two MSU wins.
O’Brien said Ballinger gives the Spartans an extra body on the perimeter, making it difficult to decide how to defend MSU.
“That’s the dilemma that you have when you play against Michigan State,” he said. “Are you going to double on (junior forward Al) Anagonye and have to get caught up in rotations and finding Ballinger, or are you not going to do that and let Anagonye play one-on-one in the post?
“Neither one is too enticing when you’re the opposition.”
And the opposition is going to have to deal with a team that is improving at the right time of year - tournament time.
Freshman guard Chris Hill said the Spartans are gaining confidence with every big win, but aren’t about to overlook anyone.
“I think it does a ton for a confidence level. We know we’ve beat Indiana and we’ve beat Ohio State - two of the best teams in the Big Ten,” Hill said. “But they are at home, and the door’s open for a Big Ten Championship for them so they’ll be playing as hard as they can.”
But despite his team’s confidence and development, the Spartans aren’t quite ready to peak, Izzo said.
“We’re past the crawling stage,” he said. “But we sure aren’t sprinting yet.”
