Michigan State Basketball: Keys to Beating Ohio State

Michigan State is a win behind Ohio State (and Maryland) for second place in the Big Ten.

On Saturday, the Spartans (16-8, 7-4) host the No. 23-ranked Buckeyes (19-6, 8-4) at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, getting a chance to take care of two tasks at once. First, they can gain ground in the conference, and second, they can beat a team that stands in the way.

Every win counts for the Spartans, who probably need to win at least 20 games and/or do some major damage in the conference tournament in order to qualify for March Madness. Taking down a ranked opponent before heading to Ann Arbor on Feb. 17 to face Michigan would certainly provide a boost of momentum, not to mention in overall confidence.

Before diving into the show, here is a little something to whet the appetite: Head coach Tom Izzo is 2-3 during the past five meetings with the Buckeyes. He split in 2013-14 with a 72-68 overtime win at home and 69-67 loss in Columbus; in 2012-13, he won 59-56 at home, lost 68-60 at Ohio State and lost 61-58 in the Big Ten tournament. 

(Try To) Limit D'Angelo Russell

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D'Angelo Russell is simply incredible.

D’Angelo Russell doesn’t get “stopped”; he might end up being limited or slightly off his game, but he’s never completely out of the equation.

The 6’5”, 180-pound freshman is the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer, averaging an outstanding 19.4 points per game. He has been held to single-digit scoring just once this year. After lashing out for a career-high 33 points versus Northwestern, Russell followed with efforts of 22, 18, 20, 23 and 17 points.

The Buckeyes lost just once during that five-game span, which was arguably the finest stretch of his young career. His hammering of then-No. 16-ranked Maryland two weeks ago was perhaps his best game yet—he scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished six assists during that 80-56 victory.

Michigan State is 0-2 versus Maryland this season.

If the Spartans can hold him to roughly 11 points, eight boards and five assists, they should be OK—it worked for North Carolina, which did that and won 82-74 back in December.

It’s also important to remember that Ohio State could be without Marc Loving on Saturday. Due to an off-the-court-issue, he’s been indefinitely suspended since Feb. 4, per OSU communications director Dan Wallenberg.

The 6’7”, 215-pound sophomore winger averages 11.7 points per game and can do it from the inside and outside. His absence could encourage Russell to do much, much more. That’d be a great thing for the Buckeyes, but not for the Spartans.

Denzel Must Be Michigan State's Valentine

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Denzel Valentine has recently revived his game to an extent.

Since scoring just eight points during a win over Rutgers, Valentine has seemingly rediscovered at least part of his scoring touch, putting up 25, 16 and 14 points. He handed out 19 assists, collected 14 rebounds and plucked four steals during that recent three-game stretch.

But he also committed nine turnovers and made 19 of 44 field-goal attempts.

The song has always been the same for the 6’5”, 225-pound do-it-all. When he's good, the Spartans flourish; when he's off, he costs the Spartans. However, that doesn’t negate his value. Michigan State can’t run without him, regardless if he’s good or below-average on any given day.

Valentine averages 14.4 points per game and is having a career year in terms of assists, averaging 4.4 per turn. He’s an obvious key to victory, as he is in every game.

Win the Paint

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Amir Williams is 6'11" and 250 pounds. MSU's Matt Costello is 6'9" and 245 pounds. Watch out for the big-boy battle.

Ohio State’s Amir Williams is one of the most up-and-down players in the Big Ten. However, the 6’11”, 250-pound junior could present a few challenges for a Spartans frontcourt that has struggled against some of the league’s more engaging bigs.

Williams likes to play rough. But so does Michigan State’s Matt Costello. That matchup may determine which team owns the paint and which one is forced to shoot. And they’ll likely influence the rebound battle. Michigan State is the Big Ten’s No. 1 defensive rebounding team and No. 2 offensive rebounding team.

Ohio State ranks No. 3 in defensive boards and No. 5 in offensive boards. Both Williams and Costello are good for roughly six boards apiece, depending on the night. It would be wise to anticipate an entertaining dance between the two. 

Obligatory Free-Throw Notes

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LINCOLN, NE - JANUARY 24: head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks to his team during their game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena January 24, 2015 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)

Free throws, free throws, free throws—Tom Izzo recently said that his team would be in much better shape if it could hit at least 60 percent of its freebies, according to MLive.com’s Kyle Austin.

"I know that mentally gets in their head, and then I decided you better get out of it," Izzo said. "You better get over it. You know, it is mentally in your head. They're not bad free-throw shooters. And if that's too much pressure, you should have picked a different level."

Austin also noted the Spartans’ historically horrible pace—they’re ranked No. 330 of 345 eligible teams and are headed for their worst season average since 1971-72. In short, Izzo seems embarrassed about his team’s average of 62.1 percent from the line.

Shooting so poorly from the stripe will result in a loss roughly 90 percent of the time.

Keep It Close in the First

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Senior Shannon Scott is one of the most complete players in the B1G. He averages 6.2 assists per game.

Sounds easy enough, right? It’s not, but Michigan State could always follow Purdue’s plan from Feb. 4, which included stifling defense and constant harassment of Russell and Williams.

Sure, they combined for 30 points—Russell with 20 and Williams with 10—but they were the only Buckeyes to reach double figures during that 60-58 loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena.

Purdue led that game 27-26 at the break. Ohio State has since gotten off to quick starts—just ask Rutgers and Penn State.

Avoiding a huge deficit at halftime is pretty basic. But then again, we're talking about a team in Michigan State that's been deficient in several fundamental areas, such as playing from behind. 

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and player information comes via ESPN’s Michigan State and Ohio State’s team pages and BigTen.org.

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan State Spartans basketball writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81