By Danielle Daniels
Ohio State vs. No. 15/18 Michigan State
Date: January 3, 2025
Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FOX
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: Sidearm
Game Notes: Ohio State |
Rosters: Ohio State | Michigan State
Season Stats: Ohio State | Michigan State
TICKETS: Season, single-game, group and mini plans are available for all men’s basketball games this season. Visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new year and it feels like a new season is about to begin. The non-conference games are in the rear view and its Big Ten play the rest of the way. The first of an 18-game stretch starts on Friday night when the Buckeyes host No. 15 Michigan State. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on FOX. Gus Johnson and Ohio State legend Jim Jackson will call the action.
The game can also be heard on the Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield. Paul Keels and former Buckeye captain Ron Stokes are on the call.
- Friday’s game will be the lone scheduled game this season between the two teams. Overall, this will be the 144th all-time meeting and the Spartans officially own the all-time series lead at 75-61 after taking into account vacated games.
- Last year’s lone meeting was a memorable one for the Buckeyes. Dale Bonner made a three-pointer with less than a second to play to give the Buckeyes a 70-67 comeback victory. The win was the first road victory for head coach Jake Diebler and it snapped a 17-game road losing streak for the Buckeyes. Missing Jamison Battle due to injury, a freshman Devin Royal stepped up with a season-high 16 points to lead the Buckeyes.
- Ohio State split its two Big Ten games at the start of last month. The Buckeyes went on the road and didn’t score as many points Maryland on Dec. 4, but then returned home to hold Rutgers to its lowest scoring total of the season in an 80-66 victory.
- Point guard Bruce Thornton has scored 30 points in each of the last two games, becoming the first Buckeye to do that in 14 years. He’s averaged 31.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the two games. He’s now in the Top 10 in the conference in scoring at 17.4 ppg.
- Sophomore Aaron Bradshaw and fifth year Ques Glover both returned to the lineup on Dec. 21, and they have given the Buckeyes a spark. They have combined to average 24.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 68 percent in the last two games. With them in the lineup, the Buckeyes have looked different.
- Freshman John Mobley Jr. has started the last three games and is averaging 11.7 points in those games while dishing out 12 assists with just three turnovers. He’s also played at lead 33 minutes in each of the three games while playing no more than 25 minutes in any of the previous 10 games.
- Largely because of Mobley Jr., the Buckeyes are leading the Big Ten in three-point percentage at nearly 40 percent.
- Michigan State enters the game at 11-2 overall and the Spartans won both of their Big Ten games last month. They rolled past both Minnesota and Nebraska.
#GoBucks
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