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Tom Izzo, Gabe Brown react to Joey Brunk’s surprising performance vs. Spartans
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Ohio State was running a bit thin at the forward position heading into Thursday’s game against Michigan State. Prior to tip-off, it was announced that Zed Key and Kyle Young would miss the action due to injury and illness, respectively.
Inserted into the starting lineup was seldom-used Joey Brunk. Brunk has appeared in 24 games this season but is averaging just over 5 minutes a game.
Fortunately for the Buckeyes, Brunk responded with his best game in a Buckeye uniform. He put up a season-high 18 points and 6 rebounds on a 7-for-10 shooting night. It was Brunk’s only game this season scoring north of 6 points.
After the game, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and Gabe Brown reacted to Brunk’s outing. Brown admitted that Brunk was not very high on the scouting report for the Spartans while Izzo said “never thought in a million years” Brunk would go off like that.
Gabe Brown said Joey Brunk wasn’t even on the front page of MSU’s scouting report. He had 18 points and six rebounds.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) March 4, 2022
Izzo said he “never though in a million years” that Brunk would “tear us up like he did.”
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) March 4, 2022
Brunk and the Buckeyes started the game on a tear and eventually cruised down the stretch to an 80-69 win. While it was a nice bounce-back win after back-to-back losses, Ohio State will still try to get healthy with the B1G and NCAA Tournaments right around the corner.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.