'I'm angry': MSU's Izzo questions team's leadership in loss against Buckeyes

Columbus, Ohio – At this point, maybe the end of the season is the only thing that can stop the current spiral Michigan State finds itself in.

On Thursday night, Ohio State was the latest team to take advantage of the Spartans, blitzing them in the opening minutes on their way to an 80-69 victory at Value City Arena.

The Buckeyes were shorthanded, playing without two key members of their rotation, but it mattered little as they scored the first 13 points of the game, weathered one quick comeback attempt by the Spartans in the first half and rolled from there, handing Michigan State its seventh loss in nine games.

The Spartans close the season Sunday at home against Maryland and are limping to the finish as their NCAA Tournament resume grows more tenuous by the game. It also has everyone searching, desperately, for answers as a once-promising season has almost imploded over the course of the last six weeks.

“I'm frustrated,” senior Gabe Brown said. “For sure, I'm frustrated because I want to win as bad as anybody. And I know Coach wants to win and I know my teammates want to win. But we’ve got to keep chipping. We gotta keep digging.”

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo went further.

“Anger,” Izzo said, trying to sum up his emotions after his team failed, once again, to match its opponents energy. “I'm angry with the way we played and don't anybody write it was about the two days on the road and all that because if we would have lost down the stretch and been fatigued, I could swallow that. But this was the start that beat is, not the end.

“So I'm not really happy with how we played defensively. I am not happy with our leadership right now and we’ve got to find a way to regroup.”

It is a tough stretch, to be sure, after playing Tuesday in Ann Arbor, bussing to Columbus then flying home after the game. But it doesn’t explain nearly two months of overall inconsistent effort.

“The schedule has made it difficult,” Izzo said. “Not games in a row, just the second half of the season schedule we never get a chance to catch our breath.

“But the way we're playing I think our guys got to check their ticker a little bit because sooner or later you’ve got to reach down and guard somebody. I mean, that's not a skill. That's an effort-related stat.”

That effort was not there on Thursday, even against an Ohio State team that had lost two in a row and was without forwards Zed Key and Kyle Young, who were out with injuries.

It mattered little as Ohio State (19-9, 12-7) made nine 3-pointers, including eight in the first half, as four players scored in double digits, including Joey Brunk. The graduate transfer who has played at Butler and Indiana, entered the game with 32 points the entire season. On Thursday, he was nearly unstoppable, scoring 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting.

“To get 18 points and tear us up like he did, I guess you could say it's my fault for not doubling them,” Izzo said. “But boy, do you have to double him when he averages 1.1 points or something like that? Shame on our guys.”

But Brunk’s play was just one aspect of Ohio State’s domination. Freshman Malaki Branham scored 22 on 9-for-16 shooting while E.J. Liddell added 19 points and seven rebounds with Jamari Wheeler scoring 16 for the Buckeyes (19-9, 12-7).

Brown scored 13 for Michigan State while Marcus Bingham Jr. added 11 points for the Spartans, who turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 20 Ohio State points.

Once again, Michigan State put itself in a hole early in the game. In this case, the Spartans dug a massive hole less than three minutes into the game as Ohio State scored the first 13 points of the game, making seven of its first eight shots and hitting its first four from 3-point range.

The lead grew to 14 before Michigan State started to make a comeback, getting two 3-pointers from Brown, the second pulling the Spartans within 27-25 with 8:10 to play in the first half. After a timeout, however, the Buckeyes responded as Michigan State missed its next four shots and turned the ball over twice. Meanwhile, Ohio State scored nine in a row and used a 14-5 run to once again secure control of the game.

Two late 3-pointers from Bingham kept it from getting out of hand as Ohio State took a 43-33 lead to the halftime locker room. The Buckeyes finished 8-for-13 from 3-point range in the opening half.

The second half didn’t go much better for the Spartans as they were unable to put together enough stops to mount any sort of comeback.

Brunk continued to have his way with the Michigan State defense as the Ohio State lead grew to 15 midway through the second half. The Spartans managed to get within 10 at 66-56 on a Brown 3-pointer, but Ohio State quickly took control from there, cruising over the final six minutes.

“We’ve got to find a way to regroup,” Izzo said. “That's what we're gonna do.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau