The 16th-ranked Spartans beat No. 19 Ohio State 80-69 on Sunday to win a third straight Big Ten championship.
Michigan State (22-9, 14-6 Big Ten) shared the conference title with No. 9 Maryland and No. 24 Wisconsin. The Spartans will be the second-seeded team at the Big Ten Tournament behind the Badgers, with the Terrapins seeded third.
The Buckeyes (21-10, 11-9) had won four straight and six of their previous seven games, but they let Michigan State make 54% of its shots in the second half to pull away.
Ohio State’s leading scorer, Kaleb Wesson, was held to eight points on 1-of-8 shooting after entering the day averaging 14-plus points per game. Duane Washington had 16 points, CJ Walker scored 14, E.J. Liddell had 12 and Luther Muhammad added 10 points for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes should get a boost in the postseason with the expected return of Kyle Young, who missed his fourth straight game with a high ankle sprain. The junior forward, who has a protective boot on his right foot, averages seven-plus points and nearly six rebounds per game.
Ohio State is the seventh seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament and will play 10th seed Purdue Thursday night at 6:30pm in Indianapolix.