With Zed Key and Kyle Young unavailable, Ohio State turned to graduate transfer Joey Brunk and reaped not only one of the best games of his career and an accompanying victory over Michigan State.
Columbus, OH – Well, now you can stop wondering what happened to Strap, from the movie, Hoosiers.
The little-used substitute – pressed into action by a shortage of available players on his team, only to go on a scoring binge the likes of which no one deemed him capable – showed up Thursday in the body of Ohio State senior transfer Joey Brunk.
Eighteen points, six rebounds, his first dunk in several years and a few chants of his name from an adoring crowd later, both Brunk and Michigan State struggled to explain his role in OSU’s 80-69 victory.
“He wasn’t even on the scouting report,” MSU’s Gabe Brown said. “He was on the back page. There were two clips of him. In the last five games he played, like, two or three minutes and hadn’t scored a point.”
Brunk, a 6-11 graduate transfer from Indiana, hadn’t played more than seven minutes in an Ohio State game since late January and hadn’t scored more than two points in any of OSU’s last 11 games.
He accumulated only four points and five rebounds in 27 collective minutes over that stretch, but with both Zed Key and Kyle Young unavailable because of injury, Brunk played just shy of 33 minutes against the Spartans.
“I never thought in a million years Joey Brunk…to get 18 points and tear us up like he did,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “I guess you could say it’s my fault for not doubling him.”
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Brunk’s performance delivered the Buckeyes (19-9, 12-7) from the depths of a two-game losing streak that imperiled their double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
If OSU defeats visiting Michigan on Sunday, and Iowa loses at Illinois, Ohio State will sit out both the first two days in Indianapolis before playing its post-season opener in the semifinals on Friday.
E.J. Liddell finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Asked how it felt to deliver unquestionably the best game of his one-year OSU career, and just two points off his career high in a five-season career over a span of six years and three different schools, Brunk said: “Pretty damn good, if you want me to be honest. It felt good to get out there and compete and play in front of that crowd.”
The nearly-15,000 in attendance at least twice broke out in chants of, “Joey, Joey, Joey,” and began rising in loud anticipation in the second half every time OSU entered the ball into Brunk in the low post.
“I think they lifted Joey Brunk,” Izzo said. “It got to the point where, when he sat down, they cheered. When he stood up, they cheered. When he got the ball, they went ape. That was pretty cool.”
Michigan State (19-11, 10-9) lacks a muscular post player, instead featuring big men who often range onto the perimeter and shoot three-pointers.
That works on offense, but it’s now crushed MSU on defense in four of its last five games against true low-post centers.
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Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson scored 33, Purdue’s Zach Edey 25 and Illinois Kofi Cockburn 27 before Brunk took his bite out of the Spartans.
“We knew we needed to get back on track, go out and compete,” Brunk said. “The sun came out today. It’s going to come out tomorrow, regardless of whether we win or lose. The same thing’s going to happen Sunday or Monday. The game was going to happen regardless. We just needed to be prepared for it.”
Malaki Branham started slow, with seven in the first half, but finished with 22.
That long view is partially a product of the adversity Brunk has encountered since OSU coach Chris Holtmann recruited him to play at Butler in 2016.
That fall, Brunk’s father developed an aggressive form of cancer, prompting his son to pause his career after seven games to spend the next six months with his father, who died in April of 2017.
Brunk played the next two seasons at Butler, transferred to Indiana, started 19 games his first season, then sat out all of last year because of a back injury and, eventually, surgery.
He transferred to OSU this past summer, and until victimizing the Spartans, saw his minutes steadily diminish as the season progressed.
“I wanted to play on a team that was going to win and contend for a Big Ten championship,” said Brunk, who made seven of his 10 shots. “Those goals are still out there for us. In basketball, there are ups and downs that go with it, but you’re not allowed to, your emotion never trumps winning at the end of the day.
Winning is the number-one priority. Everything else takes a back seat. I wanted to stay ready and be prepared for whatever opportunity came, and enjoy this last year, regardless.”
Brunk’s array of spin moves, half-hooks with both hands and nifty pivots that freed him for reverse layups helped steady OSU after its early 18-2 lead melted into a 27-25 margin.
With leading scorer E.J. Liddell sitting out because of two personal fouls, Brunk scored six points over the final eight minutes to give him 10 for the half and rebuild the Buckeyes’ lead to 43-33.
Jamari Wheeler scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half, including two of his four three-pointers after Liddell exited.
Malaki Branham’s 22 led OSU, with Liddell adding 19.
“We all knew Liddell and Malaki are really good players,” Izzo said. “That’s not what beat us. What beat us was their point guard and their center. That was the big difference in the game.”
Branham scored 15 in the second half, but the loudest roar was reserved for Brunk when he released from a high screen and Branham found him for an uncontested, two-hand slam.
“I don’t know if I’ve had an in-game dunk in over two years,” Brunk said. “It’s been a little while since that’s happened.”
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Joey Brunk had the Midas touch for the Buckeyes, making seven of his 10 field goal attempts to score 18 points (Photos courtesy of OSU).