The Michigan State run was inevitable. It was going to happen. The only question was if the Buckeyes would be able to withstand the Spartan surge.
Except the run never came. Or at least it never felt like it did.
You know how comebacks feel, especially in games where one particular team is not supposed to be winning. Eventually the cream rises to the top, momentum shifts, and now that undermanned team is trying everything they can to slow the run and keep their lead.
Everyone expected that in this game, but thanks to a 25-point lead with 10 minutes to play, a 13-2 run by Michigan State was barely a blip on the Buckeyes’ radar as they went on to an 80-64 win over the top-ranked Spartans.
There was never concern on the OSU faces. Never a worry. The momentum was always theirs, and even when it wasn’t, you couldn’t tell by the way they played. When Michigan State would have a couple of productive plays in a row, the Buckeyes would answer.
Ohio State doled out momentum like a broken ice cream machine at a Chinese buffet. The Spartans kept hitting the lever, but nothing ever came out.
It was an impressive performance by an Ohio State team that believed they were capable of beating the No. 1 team in the nation.
“I mean, we all knew we could do it, and that’s where it started,” said senior forward Jae’Sean Tate. “You can’t go into a team like Michigan State not believing that it’s possible to win. I think that was the biggest factor of us winning tonight, is just the belief that we could do it and we put in the work and we could play with the top level teams in the nation.”
Even with that 25-point lead — and a 20-point lead with four minutes to play — the Buckeyes never took a relaxed minute. They had worked too hard for this moment, and they have seen other opportunities slip through their fingers. They were determined to close strong. They weren’t worried about holding on, they were intent on making the Spartans lose their grip.
“If you watched us last year, we’ve been in situations where we’ve been up 20 and we lost in ‘the last war’ — the last minute,” Tate said. “It happened multiple times last year. I think me, Keita, and the guys that were here last year, we continue to have those flashbacks in our mind. We call it ‘Don’t fold.’ Don’t fold like a lawn chair. And that’s all we kept saying, ‘We are not folding today.’ And we got it done.”
Speaking with the media after the game, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann was the picture of pride. Not prideful, just proud. Proud of his team for answering every call.
“As a coach, you’re trying to prepare your guys as well as you can prepare them,” he said. “But at the end of the day, when the game gets tight and it’s close, players win games. When Michigan State made a run, it’s like, ‘Okay, somebody’s going to step up and make a play.’ And those guys did that.”
The moments never became too much for any of the players. Not for freshman center Kaleb Wesson. Not for freshman forward Kyle Young who was thrust into action due to foul trouble. Not for any of the veterans like Tate or Bates-Diop or Kam Williams or C.J. Jackson or Andrew Dakich.
From top to bottom, this was a team that believed in each other, and believed that they could do this.
Nothing takes fear away quite as well as belief, and the Buckeyes were fearless in this game.
“I hope we played fearless,” Holtmann said. “I really believe as a coach that if you prepare well and our approach is good, we really do want our guys to play fearless on game day. Particularly when you are playing a team of this caliber. We talk about always embracing the moment, whether we’re playing Texas Southern and they cut it to two, or Michigan State. Embrace it and play with an aggressiveness and fearlessness.”
[Photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com]