No. 2 Michigan State 81, Ohio State 54

By foxsports
Published

INDIANAPOLIS -- Denzel Valentine had 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on Friday night and second-seeded Michigan State ran away from No. 7 seed Ohio State 81-54 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.

The second-ranked Spartans (27-5) have won 11 of their last 12 games, including three victories over the Buckeyes (20-13) during that stretch.

Michigan State advances to play No. 3 seed Maryland or No. 11 seed Nebraska in Saturday afternoon's second semifinal.

Michigan State opened the second half with an 8-0 run, including consecutive 3-pointers from Valentine and Eron Harris, to increase its seven-point halftime lead to 41-26 with 18:12 left, prompting an Ohio State timeout.

That run became 14-2 on a Matt Costello dunk with 15:18 remaining, giving the Spartans a 47-28 advantage.

Harris added 13 for Michigan State, Deyonta Davis scored 12 and Costello finished with 10.

JaQuan Lyle led Ohio State with 10 points.

The Buckeyes, who were outrebounded 39-25, made only 1 of 13 shots from 3-point range.

Michigan State shot 48.4 percent from the field (31 of 64), including 20 of 33 during the second half when it outscored Ohio State 48-28.

Valentine had 14 first-half points, leading Michigan State to a 33-26 advantage through 20 minutes, although the Spartans shot only 35.5 percent from the floor (11 of 31). Davis had eight points in the half.

Ohio State got seven first-half points from Lyle and shot 40.7 percent from the field (11 of 27).

The Buckeyes took an early 5-4 lead before the Spartans used a 13-2 run to take command at 17-7.

While Ohio State enjoyed a 16-12 advantage in points in the paint, Michigan State outscored the Buckeyes 7-2 in points off turnovers.

NOTES: Ohio State advanced to the quarterfinals with a 79-75 victory over Penn State on Thursday. ... The Buckeyes played the Spartans twice in the final two weeks of the regular season, losing 81-62 and 91-76. ... Ohio State was 4-5 after a Dec. 12 loss at Connecticut but rallied to win 20 games. ... Michigan State entered 10-1 since Jan. 20, losing only in overtime at No. 13 Purdue on Feb. 9.