Spartans whip up big field-goal percentage at Buckeyes' expense

Michigan State shot 73.3 percent -- the highest ever against an Ohio State team.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- No team had ever done to Ohio State what Michigan State did on Saturday.
The Spartans shot 73.3 percent from the field -- the highest ever against the Buckeyes in 105 seasons of intercollegiate basketball -- in an 84-70 victory.
"I don't think it was bad defense," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "It was just ridiculous shooting."
His Ohio State counterpart, Jim O'Brien, could only agreed.
"We ran into a buzzsaw," he said softly.
Lights out
The Spartans, who shot 81 percent in the first half, missed their final four shots of the game or they would have set school and Big Ten accuracy records and could have broken the NCAA mark of 81.4 percent set by New Mexico against Oregon State in 1985.
"Sooner or later you think you're going to miss one but we stayed pretty consistent," point guard Chris Hill said.
Michigan State (12-8, 7-2 Big Ten) ended up 33-of-45 from the field.
"When you shoot like that it's tough to beat," Izzo said. "We shot well and we really executed well."
Maurice Ager came off the bench to tie his career high with 18 points, Hill added 16 points, Kelvin Torbert had 15, Alan Anderson 12 and Paul Davis 10 for Michigan State, which has won four in a row and seven of its last eight.
"They shot the lights out and we came out soft in the first half," Buckeyes center Velimir Radinovic said. "We gave them some good opportunities -- but they made some tough shots, too."
Ohio State shot 20 free throws before the Spartans went to the line for the first time, 3:38 into the second half.
The Buckeyes (11-11, 3-6), who had won two in a row, never got closer than 11 points in the second half after falling behind by as many as 20.
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Tony Stockman scored 18 points, Radinovic had 17, Terence Dials 13 and Brandon Fuss-Cheatham 10 for Ohio State, which has lost three in a row to the Spartans in Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes shot a respectable 44 percent and outscored the Spartans by 10 points at the line but never got the lead under double digits in the game's final 32 minutes.
Ohio State hit four 3-pointers in a row in a 12-3 run to draw as close as 62-51 with 12 minutes remaining. After a miss by Davis inside, Anderson hit a jumper in the lane and Hill nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to end that threat.
"We had great passes inside and outside," Izzo said. "We moved the ball around well all day."