COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Szymon Zapala scored a season-high 15 points and No. 18 Michigan State made 8 of 10 free throws to hold off Ohio State 69-62 on Friday night for its third straight win to start Big Ten play.
Zapala fueled a 12-0 run to build a 14-point lead for the Spartans (12-2, 3-0). However, the Buckeyes rallied as John Mobley Jr. hit a 3 and Bruce Thornton followed with a jumper with 8:47 left to go up, 50-49.
Ohio State (9-5, 1-2) then committed turnovers on three straight possessions. After Thornton’s second turnover in under a minute Xavier Booker drove the length of the floor for a three-point play. Tre Holloman drilled a 3 and Booker dunked to give Michigan State a 57-50 lead. Micah Parrish hit two 3-pointers and Mobley added a third, but the Spartans finished hitting 8 of 10 from the line.
Jaden Akins was 5 for 6 from the free-throw line, hitting 3 of 4 in the final minute, to finish with 14 points for Michigan State. Coen Carr was 7 for 8 at the line and added 11 points. Jaxon Kohler grabbed 10 rebounds.
Parrish was 3 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points to lead Ohio State. Thornton finished with 10 points.
Michigan State was able to attack the rim consistently.
Ohio State shot 36.7% from the floor at home, hitting 22 of 60 from the field including 7 of 27 on 3s.
After Ohio State used a 7-0 run to take a 50-49 lead, Booker turned a turnover by Thornton into a three-point play to put the Spartans back in front.
Michigan State scored 56 of its 69 points either in the paint or from the free-throw line.
Michigan State hosts Washington on Thursday, and Ohio State plays at Minnesota on Monday.
—
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball.
Copyright 2025 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
|
| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10
 |
S. Zapala C | 15PTS | 2REB | 1AST | |
|
8
 |
M. Parrish G | 13PTS | 2REB | 0AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| S. Zapala | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Akins | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Kohler | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Fears Jr. | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| T. Holloman | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| C. Carr | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| X. Booker | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Richardson | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| F. Fidler | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Cooper | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| N. Sanders | – | – | – | – |
| G. Normand | – | – | – | – |
| J. McCulloch | – | – | – | – |
| K. Teng | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 69 | 32 | 13 | 13 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| M. Parrish | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| B. Thornton | 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| D. Royal | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| J. Mobley Jr. | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| S. Stewart | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| Q. Glover | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| A. Bradshaw | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| E. Mahaffey | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| C. White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Etzler | – | – | – | – |
| C. Baumann | – | – | – | – |
| A. Parks | – | – | – | – |
| B. Nash | – | – | – | – |
| I. Njegovan | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 62 | 31 | 9 | 19 |