The loss ended MSU’s bid to sweep the Big Ten regular season title and conference tournament for the first time since 2000.

Although MSU defeated Minnesota in the quarterfinals, there are very few positives for the Spartans to extract from the tournament.

Poor shooting, untimely turnovers and underwhelming performances from its stars were just some of the areas in which the Spartans struggled — especially against the Buckeyes.

“Today it was on the players,” Walton said after the loss. “We didn’t execute the game plan out. Coach said you’ve got to give credit to them because if you are open you’ve got to make that shot. We had some open looks and we didn’t make ours and they made theirs.”

The Spartans shot 38 percent from the field, including 14.3 percent (3-of-21) from 3-point range against Ohio State. They weren’t much better on defense, allowing the Buckeyes to shoot 53.2 percent, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from beyond the arc.

“I’m trying to decide, am I more disappointed with us or more impressed with the way they shot the ball?” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said after the game. “Our defense wasn’t as good and that’s been pretty good.”

Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas (17 points), freshman guard Korie Lucious (16), and senior center Goran Suton (10) were the only reliable sources of offense for MSU.

For the second straight game, starting forwards Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe had virtually no impact. The duo combined for 15 points in MSU’s two tournament games.

“You have to have some guys you can rely on,” said Izzo when asked about his main players being inconsistent.

“I still feel for Raymar in some ways, because he’s battling back, but along with when you miss time, you lose your confidence in your shot and doesn’t matter even if you’re Travis Walton, everybody wants to be able to make shots.”

Sophomore guard Chris Allen wasn’t immune to the team’s shooting slump.

After scoring a team-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting against Minnesota, Allen finished with just five points on 2-of-11 shooting against Ohio State.

Allen’s performance on Friday led a bench effort that was instrumental in his team’s 64-56 victory over Minnesota.

MSU’s reserves accounted for 34 points, including 25 in the first half against the Gophers. In addition to Allen, senior forward Marquise Gray was a big presence, tallying 11 points and six rebounds.

“It’s tournament time, one-and-done time,” Gray said after the game. “We did a great job of just sticking together with each other.

“Even in the first half when some of our main guys weren’t scoring or weren’t doing certain things, everybody did just an excellent job of sticking together.”

Despite maintaining a comfortable lead throughout the second half, MSU played far from a perfect game against the Gophers. It committed 16 turnovers, shot a disappointing 19-of-31 from the free-throw line and allowed 12 offensive rebounds.

Also, the Spartans almost allowed Minnesota to come back from a 12-point deficit with 2:41 left in the game. The Gophers had whittled MSU’s lead all the way down to five before Walton and Allen made clutch free throws to ice the game.

Despite a disappointing conference tournament, Izzo asserted he’s not concerned about his team’s preparedness for the Big Dance.

“We still have a couple of things to our advantage,” Izzo said. “We normally check very well. We normally rebound very well. We almost always have depth. We still can play big, small, slow or fast.

“Like everybody, you always look forward to the NCAA Tournament more than your conference.”