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.

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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.

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.