Michigan State moves away from the Ohio State at the Big Ten tournament

CHICAGO – Cassius Winston started slowly. Foster Loyer came to his rescue.

And Tom Izzo won his 600th career victory with one of the hallmarks of his program: the production of dominant leaders.

Winston and Rent combine 32 points for 6th place in the state of Michigan basketball won the 77-70 victory over Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament at the United Center.

Rent raked 14 points, a career high of four to three points, while Winston was solid late and led the Spartans with 18 points.

More: Stars Foster MSU Rent Against Ohio State: "He's My Spiritual Animal"

Izzo is now between 600 and 231 years old in his 24-year career as head coach of the MSU.

After the match, Izzo and Winston both admitted that the Big Ten player of the year suffered a foot / foot injury in the Michigan win on Saturday and that Winston had not trained much before the Ohio State match.

Nick Ward returned from an absence of five games and added eight points in 14 minutes on three of four shots with two rebounds. The former Matt McQuaid added 12 points.

The top-ranked Spartans (26-6) will advance to Saturday's semi-finals and face the winner of seed # 4, Wisconsin, against No. 13 seed Nebraska at 1 pm (CBS).

Promote the people

Winston had trouble early, with three turnovers in the first six minutes and over. Izzo fired him after a nonsensical gift, which his junior playmaker insisted came from an Ohio State player grabbing his arm. His argument was of little importance and he sat down on the bench.

Enter Rent.

Clarkston's 6-foot rookie hit a 3-pointer in the left corner with 12:10 to play. Then he hit another of the right corner with 5:32 before half-time, a solid ball move that started with Nick Ward and has elapsed around the perimeter.

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Then, a minute and a half later, Rent fired again from the deep left wing. Nothing but the net. He had nine at half-time in 7 minutes 48 seconds.

He resumed in the second half when MSU started to run screens for him. Rent drained his fourth 3-point pointer, then a jumper for a fifth consecutive loop.

Rent led the MSU bench to beat the Buckeyes, 24-16.

Take control

One of the biggest advantages of Rent production was Izzo's ability to give Winston some rest, although his youthful challenges also dictated some of that.

Winston scored the eight points of his first half in the 15:30 final, converted a four-point game, and then launched a dunk for Aaron Henry to give MSU the advantage, 63-49, with an advance of 8:25. to play.

The Big Ten player of the year finished 4 of 7 shots. He had five assists and seven rebounds, making only one change after his unstable start.

Winston also made two of his biggest games without getting statistics. He shot the last two fouls against the Ohio State's great man, Kaleb Wesson, who finished with just seven points and three rebounds before scoring for the Buckeyes (18-14).

The state of Ohio reduced MSU's lead to 21 points with a 16-0 lead over the last four minutes, and Izzo had to hand Winston and McQuaid into the game. Winston had a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds to seal the win.

Keyshawn Woods led the Buckeyes with 16 points and Andre Wesson added 14. OSU shot 46.2%, including 53.8% in the second half.

just in time

It was a strong comeback for Ward, who was wearing a bandage heavily patted and padded on his surgically repaired left hand.

The 6-foot-9 junior striker entered the game with 3:45 of play and quickly hit a right elbow jumper, sign of strength in his pulling hand that was wearing a broken hair.

There were times when Ward was tired early, but he played 7:23 and absorbed a lot of physical play inside. He also blocked a shot by Kaleb Wesson, got a steal and a turnaround, but did not get a rebound in the opening period.

But Ward made a flagrant-1 foul with 5:32 left on a 3-pointer rent, and he spent the rest of the half.

Ward helped balance the performance of Xavier Tillman (seven points, six rebounds) and Kenny Goins (eight points, three rebounds), who combined to get 6 out of 16 of the field.

MSU shot 52% for the match.

Contact Chris Solari at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Learn more about the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.