Michigan State Heads to No. 23 Ohio State Thursday Night

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State plays its final road game of the regular season on Thursday, March 3 at No. 23/23 Ohio State (ESPN, 7 p.m). Following Thursday's game, the Spartans close out the regular season at home vs. Maryland on Sunday, March 6.

The game will air live on ESPN, with Brian Custer and John Crispin calling all of the action. The TCF Bank Spartan Media Network radio call can be heard on one of 38 affiliates and on the web at MSUSpartans.com, with Will Tieman handling the play-by-play and Kevin Pauga serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard on Sirius 85, XM 195 and channel 957 on the SiriusXM app.

About the Spartans

Michigan State enters the game on Thursday with a 19-10 overall record (10-8 Big Ten).
The Spartans are coming off an 87-70 loss at Michigan on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.
The Spartans are ranked #24 in the ESPN Coaches poll and are receiving votes in the Associated Press poll (#32).
MSU is #38 in the NET Rankings (#16 in Strength of Schedule), #34 in the Basketball Power Index and #40 by KenPom.
The Spartans are 8-7 away from home this year, including 5-5 in true road games.
The Spartans have been led this year by a stingy defense, which ranks among the leaders in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (No. 3, 41.4%), 3-point field goal percentage defense (No. 1, 31.0%), rebounding margin (No. 4, +4.5 rpg) and blocked shots (No. 1, 5.3 bpg).
Senior forward Gabe Brown leads the team in scoring with 11.4 ppg, while adding 4.0 rebounds and leads the team in 3-pointers made with 57.
Junior forward Malik Hall is second on the team in scoring with 9.6 ppg, while adding 4.8 rpg and 1.2 apg.
Freshman guard Max Christie is third on the team with 9.5 points and has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times.
Senior forward Marcus Bingham Jr. is averaging 8.7 ppg and leads the team with 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game.
Junior guard Tyson Walker is averaging 8.4 ppg and is second on the team with 4.3 assists.
Redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser adds 7.1 ppg and is second on the team with 5.4 rpg, while junior forward Julius Marble is averaging 6.5 ppg and 3.6 rpg.
Sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard is averaging 6.5 ppg and leads the team with 5.0 assists.

About Ohio State

Ohio State enters Thursday night's game with an 18-9 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the Big Ten following a 78-70 loss to Nebraska at home.
The Buckeyes have lost the last two games, the first a 75-60 decision at Maryland on Sunday.
Ohio State is 12-2 at home, including a 6-1 mark in league play.
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 23 in the country in the Associated Press poll and in the ESPN Coaches poll.
Ohio State ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense (74.0 ppg) and seventh in scoring defense (68.1 ppg)
E.J. Liddell paces the Buckeyes with 19.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, leading the conference with 2.7 blocked shots per game.

Series History

The game on Thursday night will be the 139th meeting all-time between Michigan State and Ohio State.
Michigan State and Ohio State split a pair of games last year.
The teams first met on Jan. 31 and the Spartans lost, 79-62, at State Farm Arena despite 14 points from graduate guard Joshua Langford.
In the second meeting last season, Michigan State fought back from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half and a four-point deficit in the final four minutes to beat then-No. 4 Ohio State, 71-67, at the Breslin Center on Feb. 26, as Aaron Henry scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and blocked three shots to lead the Spartans.
MSU leads the head-to-head series, 78-60, and has won five of the last six meetings and 11 of the last 14 overall.
Michigan State is 25-40 in games played at Ohio State.
The teams split a pair of meetings last year.
Tom Izzo is 33-17 in his career against Ohio State.

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Bingham Jr.

Gabe Brown

Max Christie

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Aaron Henry

A.J. Hoggard

Joshua Langford

Tyson Walker