Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ohio State shocks No. 1 Michigan State
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Keita Bates-Diop scored a career-high 32 points, and Ohio State stunned No. 1 Michigan State 80-64 on Sunday.
The overachieving Buckeyes put together an electrifying 12-0 run to finish the first half and kept their foot on the gas to give first-year Coach Chris Holtmann a signature victory.
Ohio State (13-4, 4-0 Big Ten) won its third consecutive game in taking down the best team it is likely to see this season. The mistake-prone Spartans (15-2, 3-1) lost for the first time in the last 15 games, dating back to a seven-point loss to thenNo. 1 Duke on Nov. 14.
The Spartans, who came in leading the nation with a 53.3 field-goal percentage, shot just 39 percent for the game and committed a dozen turnovers. Joshua Langford and Miles Bridges each scored 17 points.
Bates-Diop hit 12 of 21 attempts from the floor, including 2 of 4 from the three-point line. His previous career high was 27 points against Iowa three days ago.
C.J. Jackson had 14 points for Ohio State, and Jae’Sean Tate added 13.
With the exception of Bates-Diop, neither team shot particularly well in the first half.
Kam Williams opened up the second half with a dunk, and the Buckeyes never trailed again. Michigan State pulled to within 14 points with 6:25 left but couldn’t get closer.
Fans streamed onto the court afterward to celebrate the victory with players.
Ohio State last beat the No. 1 team in the country in 2007, when the then-No. 2 Buckeyes beat Wisconsin 49-48.
In other Top 25 men’s games Sunday, Shaquille Morris scored 15 points to lead a balanced scoring effort, and No. 9 Wichita State blew out South Florida 95-57. Zach Brown had 13 points, and Markis McDuffie scored 12 for Wichita State (13-2, 3-0 American Athletic Conference). Darral Willis scored 11 points. Morris, Brown and McDuffie were a combined 16 of 19 from the floor, helping the Shockers shoot 62.7 percent. Malik Martin led South Florida (7-10, 0-4 AAC) with 15 points. David Collins scored 12 points, and Terrence Samuel added 10 for the Bulls. The Shockers had 48 points off the bench in their largest victory since beating Savannah State 112-66 on Nov. 12. … Miami’s 5-foot-7 freshman Chris Lykes scored a season-high 18 points, and the No. 15 Hurricanes withstood a late rally by No. 24 Florida State to win 80-74. Bruce Brown scored a season-high 23 points and Dewan Huell had 20 points and 8 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who took the lead for good in the early minutes and made 13 of their first 14 shots. Miami (13-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won at home for the first time since Dec. 5. The Seminoles (12-3, 1-2) lost for the third time in their past six games. … Jacob Evans III scored 18 points, and Gary Clark had a big second half as No. 19 Cincinnati pulled away to a 76-56 victory over SMU, extending the longest active home-court winning streak in the country. The game matched the American Athletic Conference’s top defensive teams, and it showed in the first half as they went a combined 15-for-52 from the field and the Bearcats led 34-20. Cincinnati (142, 3-0) broke it open with a 12-point run late in the first half featuring Evans’ three-pointer. Clark scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half as the Bearcats finally got the ball inside and pushed the lead to 20. SMU (12-5, 2-2) shot only 35.7 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers that set up 26 of Cincinnati’s points. Jarrey Foster led the Mustangs with 16 points.