East Lansing, MI (Sports Network) - Big Ten foes will collide in East Lansing tonight, as the eighth-ranked Michigan State Spartans attempt to hold off the Ohio State Buckeyes.

After opening the season with nine consecutive victories, Ohio State has lost two of its last three games. The Buckeyes are fresh off a 68-59 setback against Minnesota to even their Big Ten record at 1-1. After three straight wins over the likes of Miami-Florida, Notre Dame and Butler back in early December, it appeared that the Buckeyes were on their way to a tremendously successful season. While that may still be the case, the two recent losses have caused fans of the program to temper their expectations a bit.

Michigan State has won its last seven games to move to 11-2 overall, including 2-0 in Big Ten action. The Spartans beat Minnesota by 12 points on the road, the very same group of Golden Gophers that just handed the Buckeyes a nine- point defeat. Michigan State followed that triumph with a 77-66 decision over Northwestern on Saturday.

The Spartans own a 61-50 series lead over Ohio State, which includes victories in two of the three meetings between the two last season.

The leading scorer for Ohio State is Evan Turner, as he is netting 16.2 ppg to go along with other team highs of 7.1 rpg and 28 steals. Jon Diebler checks in with 11.8 ppg, and he is a 41.8 percent shooter from three-point range. The Buckeyes have been far from explosive at the offensive end this season, as they are only netting 66.2 ppg. Fortunately, they have played tremendous team defense, limiting foes to 57.6 ppg on 39.1 percent shooting from the field. Turner scored 21 points for Ohio State in the loss to Minnesota on Saturday, and Diebler pitched in 15 points. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes only connected on 34.6 percent of their field goal attempts in that clash and finished with only eight assists against 14 turnovers. A 42-30 rebounding disadvantage certainly didn't help matters.

Through 13 outings, Michigan State is averaging 78.6 ppg while limiting the opposition to 67.1 ppg. Raymar Morgan continues to pace the Spartans in scoring with 15.4 ppg, and he is shooting a stellar 63 percent from the field while pulling down 6.8 rpg. Kalin Lucas provides 12.8 ppg, and he has dished out 82 assists while committing only 16 turnovers. As for Chris Allen, he rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers with 10.9 ppg. In the victory over Northwestern on Saturday, Morgan posted 22 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of action. Michigan State also got 17 points apiece from Lucas and Chris Allen, while Lucas contributed nine assists as well. The Spartans drained 9-of-16 three-point attempts and earned a commanding 47-28 rebounding advantage, two obvious contributing factors in the victory.