The ice water in Ohio State's veins drowned MSU's Big Ten title hopes.
The No. 13 Buckeyes made big shot after big shot down the stretch Wednesday, finishing the game on a 12-2 run to knock off No. 18 MSU, 79-68 at Breslin Center.
"They played as good a last four (minutes) as you could play," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said after the game.
It was just the fifth time in the last eight years that MSU (19-8 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) has lost a Big Ten game at home.
MSU had only three field goals in the last 13:14, while Ohio State worked the clock and kept pulling away.
"They hit a couple shots here and there that were back breakers," senior center Paul Davis said.
Maurice Ager led the Spartans with 26 points but had five turnovers, shot 2-of-10 from behind the arc and made several costly errors down the stretch. Junior guard Shannon Brown scored 17 and senior center Paul Davis added 14.
Ohio State (20-4, 9-4), the Big Ten's highest-scoring team, hit four 3-pointers in the game's first two-and-a-half minutes and finished 11-of-24 from behind the arc.
A 3-pointer by Ager 10 seconds before halftime capped a 7-0 MSU run, giving him 16 points for the half and putting the Spartans ahead 37-34 — their first lead of the game.
The score stayed tight throughout the second half and was knotted at 54 until a 3 from the corner by Je'Kel Foster gave the Buckeyes a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
A Brown 3-pointer pulled MSU within one at 67-66 with 3:55 remaining, but Ohio State scored the next 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Jamar Butler.
Butler's second was a dagger, coming right over sophomore guard Drew Neitzel with one second on the shot clock to make it 75-66 with 1:13 remaining.
Terence Dials led among five Buckeyes in double figures with 19 points. He also had 10 rebounds to notch his fourth straight double double.
With senior forward Matt Trannon out and none of MSU's other big men capable of defending Ohio State's four-guard offense, freshman guard Travis Walton was forced to play extended time. He had two points, six rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes.
"It was a struggle all night," Izzo said. "I didn't want to go with that four-guard lineup as much as we did. Of all the teams we could have played tonight, that was the toughest one for us to play because of the matchup problems."
The bench went no deeper than Walton. Brown played 37 minutes, Ager 38 and Neitzel all 40.
"We just have to learn from this and improve with that lineup," Neitzel said.
The Spartans play Indiana at noon on Sunday in Bloomington, Ind., then finish the regular season at home in games against Wisconsin and Illinois.
"I still think we've got a lot to play for," Izzo said. "The problem is the games aren't going to get any easier."
