No. 9 Buckeyes stall on offense, fall to No. 19 Michigan St.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff was speechless after Saturday's Big Ten semifinal game. The Buckeyes top scorer, Kelsey Mitchell, looked distraught.
Fans were just as shocked with the dumbfounding performance.
No. 19 Michigan State got the nation's second-highest scoring offense completely out of rhythm and ran away from No. 9 Ohio State, 82-63, to prevent a championship game rematch between the Buckeyes and No. 5 Maryland.
"We hit some adversity and didn't handle it very well," McGuff said, referring to starting guard Amheryst Alston's injured right wrist among other things. "We looked out of sync from the get-go and Michigan State's too good of a team for you to come out like that."
Mitchell led the Buckeyes (24-7) with 20 points despite going 4 of 18 from the field and 2 of 12 on 3-pointers. The only other player to reach double figures was Shayla Cooper, who had 16 on a night the Buckeyes shot 32.8 percent overall - their worst game since the season opener.
With things going that poorly, the outcome was predictable. Ohio State, which has lost three of its last four, suffered its most lopsided loss of the season, its most lopsided loss in a conference tourney semifinal and its second-worst loss in Big Ten tourney history.
"We got outtoughed and outworked," Mitchell said.
No. 19 Michigan State enjoyed playing spoiler, especially given the reward: The Spartans will now play for the school's first Big Ten tournament title in 11 years.
Aerial Powers scored 31 points to tie a school record and Tori Jankoska added 23 points for the Spartans, who will face Maryland on Sunday.
"They're a great team and I think this is a big challenge," said Powers, who tied Liz Shimek for the school's single-game scoring record in tourney play. "It would show us, kind of, where we place when it comes to the NCAA Tournament because they always get far."
It was a shocking turnabout.
Just one week earlier, Michigan State (24-7) needed triple overtime to get past the Buckeyes 107-105 in East Lansing. Ohio State won 85-80 in late December.
This time, it was no contest - and the two knockout punches came early.
Powers and Jankoska led an early 3-point barrage and combined for the first 11 points in a 13-2 second-quarter run that turned a 22-16 lead into a 35-18 rout.
Michigan State then closed the half on a 9-0 spurt to make it 44-20 - and the Buckeyes didn't get closer than 18 the rest of the night.
SCARY MOMENT
Michigan State got a scare late in the third quarter when starting forward Akyah Taylor stayed on the ground and grabbed her jaw after taking a spill following a missed layup. Taylor eventually walked to the bench and looked all right but did not return.
TOUGH TIMES
Since Ohio State's 11-game winning streak ended with a 90-88 overtime loss at Minnesota on Feb. 24, the Buckeyes have not been the same. The Buckeyes' only win since then was 73-58 over Rutgers on Friday. This was their first double-digit loss this season, and the Buckeyes shot 32.8 percent from the field, their second-worst percentage this season.
ON THE REBOUND
Michigan State dominated offensively, defensively and on the glass. The Spartans not only had a 48-31 rebounding edge, they had as many offensive rebounds (17) as the Buckeyes grabbed on defense (17).
TIP-INS
Ohio State: The 19-point deficit was the worst semifinal loss in school history and the second-worst Big Ten tourney loss in school history. ... Ohio State scored 27 points in the final 10 minutes, and the Buckeyes' bench had a 29-14 scoring advantage over Michigan State. ... Ohio State had reached the finals in seven of the previous 13 years.
UP NEXT
Ohio State: Awaits NCAA tournament pairings.