March 4, 2012

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POSTGAME NOTES
No. 10 Ohio State 72 (25-6, 13-5) No. 5 Michigan State 70 (24-7, 13-5)
March 4, 2012
Breslin Center – East Lansing, Mich.
Attendance: 14,797

Team

• The win clinched Ohio State's third consecutive Big Ten regular season title, and fifth in the last seven years.
• The Buckeyes move to 52-59 all-time vs. Michigan State.
• As a ranked team, the Buckeyes are 20-9 vs. the Spartans.
• Ohio State is 17-36 vs. Michigan State in East Lansing.
• Against ranked Michigan State teams, Ohio State is 7-16.
• Ohio State is 5-5 when both teams are ranked.
• As a ranked team, Ohio State has won six of the last seven meetings.
• The win was the sixth for Ohio State vs. a ranked opponent this season.
• Ohio State moves to 737-667 overall in the Big Ten, including a 69-20 record at Value City Arena.
• As a ranked team, Ohio State is 420-115 overall and when ranked in the AP Top 10, the Buckeyes are 299-65.
• Ohio State is 145-229 vs. Top 25 opponents and 60-112 against Top 5 teams.
• As the Associated Press No. 10 team, Ohio State is 14-7 overall.
• Ohio State has had a player record a double-double in 839 games. The Buckeyes are 578-261 in those contests. Jared Sullinger (14 points, 10 rebounds) had his 31st career double-double in tonight’s game vs. Michigan State.
• This is the 293rd-consecutive game Ohio State has made at least one 3-point field goal (1/10/04 vs. Penn State was the last game with zero made).
• The starting lineup of Buford, Craft, Smith, Jr., Sullinger and Thomas is 23-5 this season.
• Ohio State went 20-28 from the free-throw line. They now have attempted 673 free throws this season, while only allowing its opponents to attempt 460 from the stripe. The margin is 381-274 in the Big Ten.
• The Buckeyes have now amassed 235 assists in the Big Ten while only allowing 194 from their opponents. For the season, Ohio State has 473 assists, while its opponents only have 311.
• 21 of Ohio State’s 26 wins have been by double-figures.

Thad Matta

• Matta moves to 8-7 all-time vs. Michigan State.
• Matta’s career record moves to 317-94 overall and 215-63 at Ohio State.
• With the win, Matta moves to 115-46 in the Big Ten during his 12-year coaching career.
• Matta has a record of 111-42 vs. the Big Ten (regular season and conference tournament) since he became Ohio State’s head coach in the 2004-05 season.
• Ohio State is 37-42 vs. ranked teams during Matta’s tenure, including 19-32 on the road.
• Matta is 4-3 at Michigan State.
• Matta’s .775 winning percentage at Ohio State is the best among Big Ten coaches since Matta became the Buckeyes’ head coach in 2004.
• Ohio State is 39-10 in February under Coach Matta.
• When scoring more than 70 points in a game, the Buckeyes improve to 21-2 this year and 149-13 under Matta. Ohio State scored 72 points vs. Michigan State.

William Buford

• The start was Buford’s 129th donning the Scarlet and Gray, the most by any Buckeye in history.
• Buford has been a part of 110 of Coach Matta’s 215 career wins at Ohio State.
• The game is the 137th that Buford has played in, which is fifth all-time at Ohio State in games played.
• Buford has been a part of 110 wins at Ohio State, which is second all-time by senior class.
• Buford is just the fourth Buckeye in recorded history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Buford’s current totals are 1,892/623/347.
• Buford scored a game high 25 points for the Buckeyes, improving his career total to 1,892, passing Michael Redd (1,879) for fifth place in Ohio State scoring history.
• It is the ninth time this season Buford has scored at least 20 points.
• Buford has now scored 1,033 points in the Big Ten. He is currently the second among active scorers in Big Ten regular season games.
• Buford had three rebounds to push his career total to 623. He is one of 17 former Buckeyes in the prestigious 1,500 point and 500 rebound club.
• Buford became the fifth player in Ohio State history to join the 400 (made field goals) and 4,000 (minutes played) Club. After the Michigan State game, Buford has now tallied 713 made field goals and 4,438 minutes played in 137 career games (J. Diebler, D. Lighty, J. Butler and H. Williams are the other Buckeyes to achieve this feat).
• Buford had one assist in the game for a career total of 347.
• With eight made field goals, Buford now has 713 for his career, the fifth most in Ohio State history.

Jared Sullinger

• Sullinger had 14 points for the Buckeyes. It is the 26th time this season and 59th time in his career he has scored in double figures.
• With 14 points, Sullinger added to his 1,000 point club total (1,125). He is one of seven total players in Ohio State history to score at 1,000 or more points in two years.
• Sullinger had 10 rebounds to push his career total to 646.
• With 14 points and 10 rebounds, Sullinger earned his 31st career double-double and 13th this season. It is also the 18th time against a Big Ten opponent.
• Ohio State is 28-3 in games Sullinger scores a double-double.

Deshaun Thomas

• Deshaun Thomas finished with 12 points. It is the 38th time in his career he has scored in double figures and 27th time this season. He now has 727 points in his two-year career.
• Thomas has scored in double figures in 27 of the Buckeyes 31 games this season.
• Thomas also chipped in four rebounds. 

Aaron Craft

• Craft had nine points. He has 523 points in his career.
• Craft had six assists to push his season total to 150 and his career total to 317.
• Craft had four steals. He has 148 for his career. He has had at least one steal in 29 of 31 games this season.
• Craft also posted seven rebounds, tying a career high (vs. Northwestern, 3/11/11).