Michigan State Comes Back to Beat No. 4 Ohio State, 71-67

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State fought back from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half and a four-point deficit in the final four minutes as the Spartans beat No. 4 Ohio State, 71-67, at the Breslin Center on Thursday night. Junior forward Aaron Henry (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) and graduate guard Joshua Langford (Huntsville, Ala./Madison Academy) hit key jumpers in the final minute to complete the comeback victory for MSU.

It is the first time Michigan State has ever beaten Big Ten two teams ranked in the Top 5 of the Associated Press poll in the same week.

Henry scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked three shots to lead the Spartans, while junior forward Gabe Brown (Ypsilanti, Mich./Belleville) added 11 points and five rebounds as nine different players scored at least three points for MSU..

Records
Michigan State wins its third-straight game and improves to 13-9 overall and 7-9 in the Big Ten Conference, while Ohio State falls to 18-6 and 12-6 overall.

Recap

The Spartans had trailed by nine points, 49-40, after a fast break layup from Ohio State's CJ Walker capped a 9-0 run with 12:27 to play.
MSU chipped away over the next six minutes and tied the game at 55-all on a jumper from Marcus Bingham Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR Catholic Central) with 6:42 left.
The Buckeyes responded and took a 61-57 lead on a layup from Duane Washington Jr., but the Spartans used a 9-2 run – started by a 3-pointer from redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point) and aided by two free throws apiece from Henry and sophomore forward Malik Hall (Aurora, Ill./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]) – to take a 66-63 lead when Henry hit a jumper with 1:08 left.
Langford followed with another jumper with 30 seconds left to make it 68-65.
Hauser hit a free throw with 12 seconds left to make it 69-67 and Langford rebounded a missed Ohio State shot, hit 1-of-2 free throws with one second left and then hit a technical free throw to close the scoring.
The teams had gone back and forth in the first half, with six ties and three lead changes before Ohio State went into the break with a 38-33 lead.
MSU took its biggest lead of the first half, 11-6, on a jumper from Henry with 16:14 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
Tied at 27-all after a jumper from Brown with 5:36 left before the break, the Buckeyes outscored the Spartans 11-6 and took a 38-33 lead on a free throw from Justice Sueing with 28 seconds left.

Key Stats

After hitting only one of their first nine shots in the second half, the Spartans finished by hitting 10-of-13 and connected on 50.0 percent of their second half shots (11-of-22).
MSU had a 34-27 advantage on the boards.
The Spartans hit 75.0 percent of their free throws (19-of-25), including 14-of-19 (75.7 percent) in the second half.
MSU received 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists from its bench.

Notes

Michigan State leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 78-60, including a 48-17 mark at home and a 21-5 mark at the Breslin Center.
The Spartans have won five of the last six meetings between the teams.
MSU out-rebounded its opponent for the 14th time this season and are 10-4 when controlling the boards
The Spartans are 12-1 when shooting better than their opponent.
Michigan State handed out 19 assists on 24 made field goals (79.2 percent).
The Spartans received 25 points from its bench, the 15th time this year with at least 20 points.
Aaron Henry scored 18 points, his 19th game in double figures this year and the ninth-straight game.
Gabe Brown finished with 11 points, his seventh game in double figures and the third time in the last five games with at least 10 points.
Freshman guard A.J. Hoggard tied a career-high with six assists.

Up Next
Michigan State hits the road for its penultimate road game of the regular season, playing at Maryland on Sunday, Feb. 28. Tipoff in College Park, Md. is slated for 2 p.m. The game will air live on CBS with Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner on the call.

Next Event

Team Stats

Aaron Henry

Gabe Brown

Joshua Langford

Joey Hauser

Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

A.J. Hoggard

Joshua Langford