Columbus, Ohio – Tom Izzo often prides the MSU men’s basketball team in its ability to rebound, focusing on it often in practice and understanding its impact on the offense.
Few understand that lesson quite like junior center Adreian Payne.
Men's basketball leads Ohio State, 31-25, at half
Payne set the tone with 10 rebounds in the first half for the No. 4 Spartans (22-5 overall, 11-3 Big Ten) as they lead the No. 18 Buckeyes (19-7, 9-5), 31-25. Sophomore guard/forward Branden Dawson had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, capped by an alley oop dunk to end the first half while freshman guard Gary Harris also finished the half with eight points.
After MSU missed its first three shots, Harris went under the basket for a layup to break the spell and get the Spartans on the board.
Harris’ layup was the start of a 6-0 run to give the Spartans an early lead on the road.
Coming off a layup by junior guard Keith Appling, the Buckeyes regained the lead starting with a 3-pointer by forward Sam Thompson to trigger a 6-0 run of their own.
The teams jostled back-and-forth across the midway point with the Buckeyes holding the advantage in large part due to forward Evan Ravenel.
Ravenel had a team-high seven points in just eight minutes of floor time for Ohio State.
The Spartans took a firm grasp of the lead late in the half, starting with a layup and a foul by Harris to give the team a 25-22 edge.
Capped by Dawson’s fastbreak alley oop from a Harris pass, the Spartans finished the half on a 7-3 run to head to the locker room with the lead.
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