The Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Michigan State Spartans tomorrow at Value City Arena (3:45 pm CBS) in a match-up of two teams trying to avenge disappointing losses. The Buckeyes were downed by Illinois in Champaign on Tuesday by a score of 67-49, dropping their Big Ten road record to 1-3. #7 Michigan State was surprisingly upset by Northwestern on Wednesday night in East Lansing, the Spartans first loss in the conference. Michigan State boasts an all-star roster which features Ohio-native Raymar Morgan (14.0 ppg 6.7 rpg), point guard Kalin Lucas (14.1 ppg 5.2 apg), and big man Goran Suton (9.5 ppg 7.3 ppg). Chris Allen (9.6 ppg), Durrell Summers (8.0 ppg 3.4 rpg), Travis Walton (6.2 ppg 3.2 apg), freshman Delvon Roe (5.2 ppg 5.2 rpg), Marquise Gray (4.5 ppg 3.9 rpg), and Korie Lucious (2.8 ppg) round out Tom Izzo’s very deep squad. State scores an impressive 76 points per game while shooting 46.5% from the field, including 37.2% from behind the arc. A strength is their rebounding (40.7 per game), but a major weakness comes from the free throw line, as the Spartans shoot just 67.6% from the charity stripe. MSU is a very tough team overall and the Bucks are going to have to catch Sparty on a poor shooting night, as NU did on Wednesday.The Bucks dropped their first match-up with Sparty in the Breslin Center 67-58 on January 6. The Buckeyes play their best basketball at home and could use the crowd to their advantage tomorrow afternoon. In their first game, OSU shot just 25% from 3-point range, while MSU shot 47.1%. That gap will have to be smaller if OSU wants to take this one. The Bucks were also outrebounded 26-28 and MSU went to the foul line twice as many times (26 to 13) as Thad Matta’s team. Both of those categories will have to be closer as well tomorrow if OSU wants to give MSU its second conference loss of the week and season. I think OSU will keep it close, but in the end Sparty will get the best of Brutus by a score of 68-61. I think MSU’s ability to rebound the basketball, coupled with OSU’s inconsistent play on both sides of the floor is enough for MSU to prove why they are the best team in the Big Ten tomorrow. I hope I am wrong, but with the way the Buckeyes came out against Illinois on Tuesday night and MSU hungry for a win after their loss to Northwestern, I cannot see the Buckeyes winning this game.