Ohio State rallied to pull off a 60-57 win over Michigan State on Sunday. The Buckeyes snapped a long drought with their dramatic victory at the Breslin Center.
Dale Bonner hit a game-winning three at the buzzer to give Ohio State its first road victory in 420 days. Although the Buckeyes won two games away from Columbus at neutral locations in November, they were 0-7 in official road games this season.
They lost their final nine road games of the 2023-23 campaign, with their last road triumph coming over Northwestern on Jan. 1, 2023.
Those woes seem poised to continue Sunday, as Ohio State entered halftime trailing by 10. The Buckeyes were down by 12 with 11 minutes remaining before going on a 13-2 run.
Ohio State hadn’t led all game until two Roddy Gayle Jr. free throws gave the Big Ten squad a 57-56 advantage with 11 seconds remaining. Tyson Walker responded with a free throw after an offensive rebound.
With 6.4 seconds left, the Buckeyes drove the full court and found Bonner, who drained a contested three as time expired. The senior, averaging 4.4 points per game this season, scored six points off the bench.
The thrilling finish ended another eventful game for Jake Diebler. Ohio State has lost nine of Chris Holtmann’s last 11 games (going 0-4 on the road) before the interim head coach led an upset over Purdue in his debut.
Ohio State suffered an 88-79 loss at Minnesota on Thursday before finally prevailing on the road Sunday. On the other hand, the defeat marks Michigan State’s first back-to-back home losses this season.
The Buckeyes return to Columbus for home games against Nebraska and Michigan before closing the season at Rutgers.