Ohio State is showing how dominant it can be when D'Angelo Russell's teammates share the offensive burden with the freshman sensation.
Knocking off the 23rd-ranked Buckeyes on Saturday at the Breslin Center would give Michigan State a much-needed victory to strengthen its postseason resume after whiffing on multiple previous chances.
The Buckeyes (19-6, 8-4) have been able to rely on Russell, who leads all freshmen with 19.4 points per game. He's been particularly impressive over the past seven games with averages of 22.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
As good as Russell has been, Ohio State typically struggles when he does, going 1-3 when he fails to score 14 points. His supporting cast has played better lately, however, highlighted by Sam Thompson's career-high 22 points in Wednesday's 75-55 win over Penn State, the Buckeyes' fifth victory in six games.
Though Ohio State's second-leading scorer is Marc Loving (11.7 ppg), one of Russell's teammates has scored at least 16 in each of the last four wins, all decided by 12-plus points. The Buckeyes are 9-0 when Russell and another player each score 16 or more.
"It makes it easier. A lot easier," said Russell, who had 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds. "Teams can't really key on me if the other guys are stepping up and doing what they're good at."
Ohio State should be bolstered by Loving's expected return after he missed three games due to an undisclosed disciplinary reason. Loving has made 12 of his last 19 3-point attempts.
While Michigan State (16-8, 7-4) has no truly bad losses besides a 71-64 overtime defeat to Texas Southern on Dec. 20, it has done little to differentiate itself from teams vying for NCAA tournament bids. The Spartans are 0-4 versus Top 25 teams and also lost to current No. 10 Notre Dame in December when the Irish were unranked. After Saturday, Michigan State's only remaining game against a ranked team before the Big Ten tournament is at No. 5 Wisconsin, which is 12-1 at home.
More consistent play from Travis Trice would go a long way for coach Tom Izzo. Trice scored 16 in Tuesday's 68-44 win at Northwestern, going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc off the bench. Trice had started 22 of Michigan State's previous 23 games but was 10 of 40 from beyond the arc in his last seven.
"I don't know. It's not game to game," Izzo said of Trice's role. "There's some good things about it. There's still some things that I struggle with myself about it. But it needed to be done for his sake and ours."
Trice, who helped Michigan State hit a season-high 13 3-pointers on 25 attempts, is 2 for 13 from deep in seven career matchups with Ohio State and has totaled just 13 points.
Branden Dawson, averaging 11.8 points and a Big Ten-leading 9.9 rebounds, has been limited to 5.0 points and 4.3 boards per game in the last four meetings as Michigan State has gone 1-3. The senior has shot 38.1 percent in that span but has hit 72.7 percent in his last four games.
The Spartans had won 11 of 15 home games against Top 25 teams before losing their only one this season, 68-66 in double overtime to then-No. 12 Maryland on Dec. 30. They've knocked off the last two ranked Ohio State squads to visit East Lansing.
Six of these teams' last seven meetings have been decided by four points or fewer.
