COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sporting Alert – Bryn Forbes shot lights out from long-range in the second half en route to scoring 27 points and No. 6 Michigan State beat Ohio State 81-62 in a college basketball game on Tuesday night. Complete Box score
“I could have made a couple more shots,” he revealed.
Forbes made six 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 7-of-10 from beyond the arc as he scored 20 of his total points after the halftime break for the Spartans (23-5, 10-5 Big Ten).
Overall, the senior guard went 9-of-14 from the floor while scoring in double-figures for the third straight game and the seventh time scoring 20 or more points this season.
“Great plays and then great screens and great passing,” Forbes said.
“I’d say the bigs did such a great job at screening, I was kind of shocked how open I would be at times. They’d find the screens and try to take guys’ heads off. It worked out.”
Denzel Valentine had 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds, Matt Costello added 16 points and six rebounds for Michigan State which won for the seventh time in eight games.
As a team, the Spartans shot 14-of-22 from 3-point range for 63.6 percent and 54.4 percent from the floor overall on 31-of-57 shooting.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was happy with the win, but felt his team could have played better, especially in the first half.
“Trust me, that was not a very good performance by us,” Izzo said. “It was a very good performance by (Ohio State).”
Forbes added: “He was pretty angry. He snapped. We deserved it. It helped us coming out in the second half.”
Marc Loving had 19 points and JaQuan Lyle added 16 and five rebounds for Ohio State (18-11, 10-6), which trailed 36-31 at halftime.
Prior to Tuesday night’s defeat, the Buckeyes had won four straight games.
Michigan State entered the matchup in Columbus in 5th place in the Big Ten standings and half a game behind the unranked Ohio State.
However, with the win, the Spartans moved one place up to fourth, while the Buckeyes slipped two places to sixth.
Ohio State played without starting forward Jae’Sean Tate after the sophomore failed to shake off a recent left shoulder trouble.
He will undergo surgery on Friday and is out for the rest of the season.
“Jae’Sean is the heart and soul of this basketball team,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “We challenged our guys, man down you’ve got to man up.
“I hate it for Jae-Sean but that being said, we have to go on and find a way to regroup and get ready to go again.”
There were top 25 wins on the night for No. 2 Kansas, which outlasted No. 19 Baylor 66-60 and No. 16 Kentucky, which fended off the challenge of the unranked Alabama, 78-53.
College Basketball Top 25 Scores
Tuesday, February 24
Full Scoreboard
No. 2 Kansas 66, No. 19 Baylor 60
No. 6 MICHIGAN STATE. 81, OHIO ST. 62
No. 16 KENTUCKY 78, ALABAMA 53
