Michigan State Basketball: Foster Loyer explodes in win over Ohio State

Foster Loyer exploded for a career game against Ohio State to advance Michigan State basketball to the Big Ten tourney semifinals.

We’ve all been waiting for some signs of life from Foster Loyer, and we got just that on Friday afternoon at the United Center.

Although he was part of a five-man group late in the game that nearly blew a 22-point lead, he was one of the main reasons the Spartans had a healthy lead in the first place. He scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

A late revelation following the 77-70 win over Ohio State was that Cassius Winston injured his foot/toe against Michigan to end the season and missed a couple of days of practice leading up to the Big Ten Tournament opener for the Spartans on Friday. That meant Loyer was going to see big minutes, and he responded by giving the team life while playing solid defense with a couple of steals and a big drawn charge.

Loyer finished with three assists and two steals.

But Winston didn’t play all that bad, either. In fact, he finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, making 4-of-7 shots from the floor.

It was also Nick Ward’s first game back and he finished with eight points and two rebounds on 3-of-4 makes as that hand didn’t seem to bother him all that much, but he was in foul trouble for the entirety of the game.

To make things even more special, Tom Izzo recorded his 600th career win, sitting in second place all-time on the Big Ten coach wins list. He wasn’t happy with the way his team played, though, so don’t expect him to celebrate this feat until Sunday.