A poor start nearly doomed the Spartans again, but they were able to avoid disaster with a narrow win over Ohio State.<\/p>\n
Michigan State rallied in the second half to avoid a crippling upset and top the banged up Buckeyes<\/a>, 66-60, from the Breslin Center on Sunday. Michigan State trailed for a large portion of the game, but finished strong to pick up their second straight win.<\/p>\n The trend of getting off to a poor start continued for the Spartans on Sunday, with Michigan State trailing heading into the break for the sixth time in their last seven games. Michigan State struggled offensively and was unable to get much going, but luckily had a strong enough defensive effort to keep the Buckeyes’ lead narrow at the break. Ohio State star guard Bruce Thornton had 16 of his game-high 32 points in the first half, to give the Buckeyes a 26-23 lead at the break.<\/p>\n The second half was mostly back-and-forth with a few lead changes before Michigan State took the lead with 10 minutes left and never surrendered it. Ohio State put forth a late rally but the Spartans held on thanks to some timely baskets and made free throws.<\/p>\n Carson Cooper starred for the Spartans, finishing the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Scott (12 points) and Jeremy Fears Jr. (11 points) were the other two lone Spartans to reach double-digits in points.<\/p>\n With the win, Michigan State improves to 22-5 overall and 12-4 in Big Ten play. The Spartans have four regular season games remaining, with three of those coming on the road.<\/p>\n Michigan State will be on the road next week, with a pair of games against the Big Ten’s Indiana-based teams. The Spartans will first play at Purdue on Thursday, and then head to Indiana on Sunday. Tipoff between Michigan State and Purdue is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.<\/p>\n Contact\/Follow us @<\/em>The SpartansWire<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State basketball survives upset scare, beats Ohio State<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n