Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from Ohio State upset

Michigan State found out the hard way that winning on the road in the Big Ten isn’t easy. What’d we learn from the upset at Ohio State?

Going into the week, Michigan State looked like a lock to go 2-0 and head into rivalry week with a 16-1 overall record. Unfortunately, winning on the road in conference play isn’t easy, especially when you’re the No. 1 team in the country, getting everyone’s best shot.

Ohio State was a much tougher battle than Michigan State expected to see on Sunday evening in Columbus, but it didn’t help that the Spartans — the nation’s top shooting team — finished with a measly 39 percent shooting rate from the floor.

It’s time to burn the tapes and move forward after the 16-point blowout, but we did learn some things about this team from the blowout. What are the five takeaways from Michigan State’s 80-64 loss to Ohio State?

5. Turnovers can absolutely kill this team

In March, if a game like this happens, it’s season over. The Spartans were too careless with the ball and that led to far too many easy buckets on turnovers for the Buckeyes.

Michigan State finished with just 12 turnovers, but the Spartans also had just 13 assists on 23 made field goals. That’s not something this team is used to seeing, especially after assisting 30 times on 32 made field goals in a blowout of Maryland earlier in the week.

Assist-to-turnover ratio is important for this team and when it hovers around 1-to-1, Michigan State struggles. Passing is a major key to Michigan State’s success and it has been trying to cut down on turnovers, but Sunday’s loss showed that coughing up the ball too often can ruin its chances at a win — especially on the road.

Turnovers put the game out of reach for Michigan State. That and poor shooting.