Michigan State University
Ohio St
Spartans Beat No. 16 Buckeyes, 67-64
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 10, 2002
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State has been tough to beat this season with Marcus Taylor and Adam Ballinger in the starting lineup.
Without them, the Spartans have been vulnerable.
Taylor had 18 points and five assists, and Ballinger added 18 points and 10 rebounds as Michigan State beat No. 16 Ohio State 67-64 Sunday.
The Spartans (14-9, 5-5 Big Ten) have lost five of their nine games with Taylor and Ballinger sidelined with injuries.
"With Marcus, it's like night and day for our team," Ballinger said. "He's a great player that makes everybody better, and he makes teams defend us differently."
Ballinger missed four games earlier this season with a sprained ankle, and Taylor played for the first time since getting a mild concussion early in the second half of the Spartans' Feb. 3 win at Illinois.
"I don't remember anything from the Illinois game," Taylor said. "And then I had bad, bad headaches. But now I feel pretty good. It was just nice to get back out there and help the team."
Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien was asked how much difference Taylor makes for the Spartans.
"What do you think?" O'Brien answered sarcastically. "It's a huge difference. He's supposed to be one of the premier guards in the country, not just in the league. I think they're a dramatically different team with him in the lineup."
Michigan State used two 13-0 runs to knock the Buckeyes (17-5, 8-3) out of a first-place tie with Indiana.
The Spartans have won five of their last seven conference games, but with a month left in the season, Michigan State coach Izzo is not ready to start making plans for the NCAAs.
"I'm still not comfortable with it because we have a lot of games left," Izzo said. "But we beat a good team today. This will be a quality win for us."
The Spartans have also beaten Oklahoma and Arizona at home this season and won at Illinois last Sunday.
Ohio State, which travels to Iowa and Indiana next, has lost two straight and three of five.
"We're going to have to make sure we stay real positive," O'Brien said. "This is as difficult a stretch as you could go through in this league. We can't let our guys get discouraged."
Brent Darby scored 14 points for the Buckeyes, 12 coming in the final 7:34. Zach Williams added 12, while Brian Brown and Terence Dials each had 10.
"We're not going to win a lot of games if our guards go 9-for-30," O'Brien said, referring to Darby and Brown.
After Ohio State took a one-point lead, the Spartans' second 13-0 run gave them a 48-36 lead with 9:26 left. Michigan State led by at least seven until Boban Savovic's 3-pointer pulled Ohio State within four with 2:46 left. The Buckeyes couldn't get closer than three.
"We can't panic," Williams said. "We just have to keep playing with a sense of urgency and make sure we don't get down on ourselves."
The Spartans have won eight straight over Ohio State in the Breslin Center and 13 of 15 overall in the series.
Michigan State's first 13-0 run gave it an 18-13 lead with 7:55 left in the first half. The Spartans led just 27-24 at halftime despite holding Ohio State to 27.6 percent shooting.
