No. 13 Ohio State 78, No. 10 Michigan State 67 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2000
Box Score| Quotes| Notes| Interview
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio – George Reese scored 19 points off the bench and No. 13 Ohio State overcame heavy foul trouble to beat Michigan State 78-67 Thursday night, ending the Spartans’ Big Ten winning streak at 21 games.
Michigan State (12-5 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) hadn’t lost in the conference since the Big Ten opener a year ago, winning the last 15 regular-season games and the conference tournament. The streak was the fourth-longest in Big Ten history.
Five teams now have one loss in the wide-open Big Ten race, and two more teams are just a game back.
The victory was sweet payback for Ohio State (12-3, 4-1), which had lost 10 straight to Michigan State. The Spartans had won a school-record eight straight Big Ten road games.
Reese, a starter earlier in the season and now the sixth man, hit 8-of-13 shots. Scoonie Penn added 16 points, Brian Brown and Michael Redd each had 14 and Ken Johnson, the nation’s leading shot-blocker, was a factor in the middle with four blocks and eight points.
Morris Peterson scored 20 points, Andre Hutson 14, A.J. Granger 11 and Mateen Cleaves 10 for Michigan State. Charlie Bell, the Spartans’ No. 2 scorer at 12.8 a game, got his only basket with 3:24 left and finished with six points. Reese’s free throw with 12:06 left in the half broke a 15-15 tie and Ohio State led thereafter, building margins to 13 points in the second half.
Michigan State got as close as 71-65 with 2:11 left after a 6-0 run capped by Cleaves’ free throw.
Redd scored in the lane with 1:55 left and, after Cleaves missed a jumper, Johnson hit two foul shots for a 75-65 lead.
Michigan State, which led the nation with a plus-12 rebounding margin, outrebounded Ohio State only 34-31. The Spartans, averaging 17 turnovers a game, had 11 at halftime and finished with 18 to Ohio State’s nine.
