Phil Harrison, Buckeyes WireMon, February 23, 2026 at 2:10 AM UTC·1 min readThe Ohio State basketball team had a big, big win right there for the taking on the road against Michigan State, but couldn't make the plays down the stretch to finish it off and impress the NCAA Tournament committee. It's a repeating pattern, but at least this time the Buckeyes showed great effort and fight on the road while missing two of their best players.
In the end, it was still a loss, but you wouldn't know it by listening to Spartans head coach Tom Izzo. He met with his reporters after the game and lamented his team's play from the effort and execution, to the ability to guard and make shots.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIzzo did credit Ohio State, most notably guard Bruce Thornton, but he had more to say about how poorly his team played than what the Buckeyes did on the court in front of the Michigan State crowd. Still, we like to keep tabs on what the opposing coaches have to say after playing Ohio State, so we have his complete press conference here, thanks to the WILX YouTube Channel.
Ohio State will now prepare to hit the road again to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday, and it'll be the next in the line of must-wins as the regular season comes closer to a close, and with the Buckeyes still on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State vs Michigan State: Tom Izzo salty after Buckeyes loss
AdvertisementAdvertisement
