The Buckeyes have been an up and down team for much of this season. There have been times the team has been down, such as an early season four-game losing streak, which included losses to Louisiana Tech and Texas-Arlington, but there have also been times where they've flashed their potential, as they did in a 74-67 victory over a then-No. 4 Kentucky team on Dec. 19.

Because of the flashes they've shown, the Spartans aren't taking them lightly.

"They're really talented, sneaky talented," MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine said. "They've been pretty much up and down. During their win streak, they're getting confident. I think they're figuring out who they are and what their roles are. They have talent, they're just young, and they're playing to get into the NCAA Tournament. We have to match their intensity, or have more intensity."

A lot of the Buckeyes' inconsistencies this year have revolved around one thing — their youth. Only one player among Ohio State's rotation is an upperclassman, that being junior forward Marc Loving. The rest are all freshmen and sophomores.

Coming into this game, however, the Buckeyes have won four straight games. MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo said at his press conference Monday that for the second straight week, they might be getting the hottest team in the conference. Last Thursday the Spartans got a Wisconsin team, which had won seven games straight before falling to MSU, 69-57.

In addition to this, the Buckeyes are currently in the midst of trying to play themselves into the tournament, and a win against a top 10 team in the nation would help them do just that.

"I think right now these are big games for Ohio State, they’re big games for Michigan State," Izzo said. "They’re a little younger, we’re a little more experienced but those young guys are talented guys and I think Thad (Matta) has done a good job with them. They were a little inconsistent early, they’re becoming more consistent and now they’ve won four in a row. ... We’re going to get a hot team with a lot on the line and so it will probably be tournament-type fever and that’s probably good for us right now.”

And while the Spartans are currently looking at an outside shot at winning the Big Ten regular season crown, they have a lot more goals than that, such as the all-time single season record for wins of 33, as well as the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.

“I think we have a lot more motivation than just winning a Big Ten regular-season championship," MSU senior forward Matt Costello said. "Of course we want to do that, but that’s out of our hands at this point. We have to hope that some other teams lose. Right now, we are playing for a Big Ten seed. We are playing for NCAA Tournament seed to improve our chances to make our other goals of winning a Big Ten Tournament championship and a national championship.”