How did Ohio State beat Michigan State without Brice Sensabaugh?
CHICAGO – Two-thirds of Ohio State’s Big Ten all-conference selections stood at halfcourt of the United Center on Friday afternoon.
With his left arm in a sling, honorable mention honoree Zed Key wore scarlet pants and a white Ohio State T-shirt on the one-week anniversary of his season-ending shoulder surgery. With the Buckeyes warming up to face No. 4 seed Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, he was joined near the newfangled conference basketball logo by third-team all-league forward Brice Sensabaugh.
Key’s absence from the lineup had been known long in advance. Sensabaugh’s was the surprise, a slowly escalating development set into motion when he asked to come out of Thursday’s win against No. 5 seed Iowa.
“He said, ‘Hey, coach, I need to come out,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “I thought he was fatigued. When we took him to the bench, then we found out his knee was bothering him. He was evaluated by our medical staff. They decided, rightly and smartly, to keep him out for the rest of the game.”
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That set into motion a sequence of evaluations that led to the decision to hold him out of the game. His status for Saturday’s semifinal game against No. 1 seed Purdue is unknown. Sensabaugh will undergo further testing Friday night.
“We're just concerned about Brice,” Holtmann said. “He's obviously got a really bright future. He really wanted to play, as did Zed. Both those guys would love to be a part of this. It was clearly the right decision for him.”
While in high school, Sensabaugh missed his entire junior season due to a combination of COVID-19 outbreaks and a meniscus injury that required two surgical procedures. It made him an under-the-radar recruit who, as a senior, was named Florida’s Mr. Basketball after signing with Ohio State before playing in a single game that season.
Now, Sensabaugh is Ohio State’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, and his 537 points are the fourth-most for a freshman in Ohio State history. In the process, Sensabaugh has played his way onto NBA draft boards, where he’s being projected as a first-round pick.
Without him, Holtmann moved West Virginia transfer Sean McNeil back into the starting lineup. Four of Ohio State’s starters played at least 35 minutes in what was mostly a seven-man rotation, and they helped Ohio State shake off two losses to the Spartans this season.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Sensabaugh’s absence was felt on the defensive end. In their wins against the Buckeyes this season, Michigan State was 56 for 112 (50.0%) overall and 19 for 42 (45.2%) from 3-point range. Friday at the United Center, Ohio State held the Spartans to 58 points, 38.2% shooting (21 for 55) from the floor and an 18.8% 3-point mark (3 for 16). Michigan State had hit 42 3s in its final four games of the regular season including a 12-for-20 effort against Ohio State in its prior game.
“You look at with Sensabaugh out, I thought they played better,” Izzo said. “That's not an insult to him. Another three-point shooter in there and definitely defensively (they were better).”
The trade-off is obviously on the offensive end, where Sensabaugh has been Ohio State’s only consistent weapon for long stretches of the season. He is seventh in the nation in percentage of his team’s shots taken when he’s on the floor (34.8%) and, even with missing this game, has taken 50 more shots than anyone else on the roster.
In two games in Chicago, Sensabaugh averaged 12.5 points and shot 50.0% (12 for 24) from the floor while pulling down 15 rebounds.
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Without him, Roddy Gayle scored a career-high 15 points, Justice Sueing hit a season-high four 3-pointers and seldom-used reserve Tanner Holden hit a first-half 3-pointer.
“Of course we want Brice on the court,” freshman Bruce Thornton, who led the Buckeyes with 21 points, said. “He provides so much spirit with his way of playing and everything. Next man stepped up. Roddy stepped up. Tanner came in and made a big three.”
Should Sensabaugh remain sidelined against the Boilermakers, Holden’s role would likely grow as Ohio State plays its fourth game in as many days and fatigue picks up.
“Sensabaugh is a helluva player by the way,” Izzo said. “A helluva player. I just felt like maybe they played different without him. Maybe he convinced them they've got to really guard. A couple of those guys, I thought, put on a lot of pressure. I thought Roddy really played well. I thought their center, (Felix) Okpara, did a good job on the ball screen stepping up, and that created some problems. We just didn't handle it very well.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State loses Brice Sensabaugh, wins against Michigan State
