COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Wearing an Ohio State jumpsuit and T-Shirt, Jae'Sean Tate stood underneath the basket while his teammates finished the pregame layup line.
Tate was the only Buckeyes player directly facing what was on the other side of the Value City Arena court -- No. 6-ranked Michigan State Spartans, the team who represented one of Ohio State's last chances to earn a late-season quality win.
Maybe Ohio State's hopes of somehow backdooring into the NCAA Tournament were alive at the beginning of the week, but they died Tuesday evening at 8:45 p.m.
Tipoff against Michigan State was at 9.