BIG TEN/BIG 12

Scott takes shot, brings Izzo relief

— Deshaun Thomas was so good he made Michigan State’s Tom Izzo want to do something the coach said he has “never” done.

If Ohio State’s star got the ball in the closing seconds with a chance to make an overtime-forcing three-pointer, Izzo wanted the Spartans to foul him.

Shannon Scott, though, didn’t give Thomas one more shot and that helped No. 18 Michigan State beat the 11thranked Buckeyes 59-56 Saturday night.

“I was relieved,” Izzo said.

Keith Appling scored 15 points, including two free throws with 7.9 seconds left, and Adreian Payne added 14 as part of a relatively balanced offense against a oneman show.

Thomas scored 28 points, his most in Big Ten play. He was 10 of 20 overall, made 6 of 11 three-pointers and connected on his two free throws.

The junior forward was upset Scott didn’t pass him the ball to potentially tie the game before the buzzer.

“I was knocking down shots all night,” Thomas said.

Scott put up an off-balanced shot with just under four seconds left and his attempt hit the side of the backboard.

Ohio State Coach Thad Matta called a timeout after Appling’s lead-padding free throws and anticipated Michigan State fouling to prevent a three-point attempt.

When the hack didn’t come, Scott seemed to be surprised and hurried a shot.

“Michigan State knew we were going to go to [Thomas],” Matta said. “We would’ve liked to have got it to him there.”

Scott probably wished he had passed the ball, too, as he his face under his jersey.

“You could see that he put his head down,” Thomas said.

The Spartans (16-3, 5-1 Big Ten) are on their way up in the conference standings, winning five consecutive conference games to move into first place with Wisconsin’s loss at Iowa.

Michigan State’s Branden Dawson scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Gary Harris and Derrick Nix each added eight points.

Ohio State (13-4, 3-2) was playing for the first time since handing Michigan its only loss last Sunday.

The Buckeyes’ secondleading scorer against the Spartans was Lenzelle Smith Jr., who had six points on 2-of-7 shooting. Aaron Craft, who was 2 of 8 from the field, was one of three Buckeyes with five points.

“You’d like to have everyone in double figures, but [Thomas] was smooth and efficient and it was a tremendous effort by him,” Matta said.

In other games involving Big Ten teams, Shavon Shields scored a careerhigh 29 points, Ray Gallegos had 15 points and Nebraska (10-9, 1-5) held off host Penn State (8-10, 0-6) in a 68-64 victory. ... Aaron White scored 17 points and host Iowa (13-5, 2-3) hung on to beat Wisconsin 70-66, knocking the Badgers (13-5, 4-1) out of first place in the Big Ten.

BIG 12

Kansas rallies

AUSTIN, Texas — Ben McLemore scored 16 points and No. 4 Kansas stormed back from a late double-digit deficit to stun Texas 64-59 on Saturday for its 15th consecutive victory.

Jeff Withey added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Jayhawks (16-1, 4-0 Big 12), who trailed by 11 points in the second half before McLemore steered a rally that prevented the reeling Longhorns (8-9, 0-4) from a badly needed victory in this troubled season.

Travis Releford added 12 points for Kansas.

Sheldon McClennan led the Longhorns with 18 points. Texas has lost four consecutive, its longest losing streak since Coach Rick Barnes’ first season in 1998-1999.

In other games involving Big 12 teams, Rodney McGruder scored 20 points and Will Spradling added 15 as No. 16 Kansas State (15-2, 4-0) defeated visiting Oklahoma (12-4, 3-1), winning 69-60. ... Tyrus McGee scored 16 points off the bench, Will Clyburn added 12 and Iowa State (13-4, 3-1) won 63-50 over host TCU (9-9, 0-5) for its third consecutive victory. ... D.J. Byrd scored 17 points to help host Purdue (10-8) win 79-52 over West Virginia (8-9). ... Markel Brown scored 21 points, Phil Forte hit four three-pointers and had 19 points and host Oklahoma State (12-4, 2-2) routed Texas Tech (8-8, 1-4), winning 79-45 for the most lopsided victory in the series in 61 years. ... Baylor (12-5) rested its two most prolific scorers and still had no problem with visiting Hardin-Simmons (10-6), beating the Cowboys 107-38. Taurean Prince had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor, which played without senior guard Pierre Jackson and 7-1 freshman Isaiah Austin, who average a combined 33 points a game.

Sports, Pages 29 on 01/20/2013

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