Ohio State's Joey Brunk Takes Advantage Of Opportunity In Win Over Michigan State

The sixth-year senior scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds while starting in place of an injured Zed Key.

Ohio State sixth-year senior center Joey Brunk entered Thursday night’s game against Michigan State averaging just 1.3 points and 1.0 rebounds in roughly five minutes per game off the bench, such a minimal impact that senior forward Gabe Brown said afterward that Brunk wasn’t even on their scouting report.

“We had like two clips of him,” Brown said during his postgame press conference. “In the last five games, he played like two or three minutes or something like that and hadn’t scored a point.”

Thus, the Spartans learned a valuable lesson about overlooking an opponent, as Brunk’s season-high 18 points and six rebounds were a big reason why the Buckeyes snapped their two-game losing streak with an 80-69 win at Value City Arena.

“(I) never thought in a million years (it would be) Joey Brunk,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I recruited Joey. Great kid. I know he’s been through injuries and everything, but to get 18 points and tear us up like he did. I guess you could say it’s my fault for not doubling him but, boy, if you have to double him – he averaged 1.1 points or something like that – shame on our guys.”

Brunk, who joined the program this offseason as a graduate transfer from Indiana, got the start in place of sophomore Zed Key, who suffered what head coach Chris Holtmann described as a “significant” ankle injury in Sunday’s loss at Maryland. And with fifth-year senior Kyle Young also sidelined after leaving Tuesday's loss to Nebraska with a concussion, the Buckeyes absolutely needed Brunk to step up down low.

“I’m just so happy for the kid,” Holtmann said. “I don’t know that he surprised me with his ability to score because I’ve seen that for a couple years and I’ve seen it in practice. The reality is that we’ve had a little bit of depth there, so it’s kind of forced him to the bench more than I would have liked and I’m sure more than he would have liked. But it’s an unbelievable testament to the kid.

“When you think about it, he’s had multiple DNPs (did not play), coach’s decision. He’s been as invested in our team as anybody on our team. I mean, he’s been as invested as (junior forward) E.J. Liddell, as Kyle Young, as our captains. Fully invested, and I think that’s a great sign of character. He’s got tremendous maturity, tremendous character and I’m just really happy for this moment for him.”

Brunk’s 10 first-half points helped Ohio State take a 10-point lead into halftime. The 6-foot-11 and 255-pounder then scored eight points in the second half, punctuated by a two-handed dunk with 1:52 remaining in the game that put the Buckeyes up by 14 and had the crowd chanting his name.

“(It felt) pretty damn good, if you want the honest answer,” Brunk said. “It just felt good to go out and compete and play in front of that crowd. We knew we needed to get back on track and go out and compete. The game was happening regardless, we just needed to be prepared for it.

“In their defense, I didn’t have a whole lot to show on film for them, so they probably weren’t wrong. I don’t blame them … I just wanted to be prepared for whatever opportunity happened. That’s why you stay ready and do the extra stuff so if an opportunity comes, you’re prepared for it.”

It’s unclear how long Key and Young will be out, leaving the door open for Brunk to make his impact felt in Sunday’s regular season finale against Michigan (2:30 p.m. on FOX) and beyond. But whatever role he has moving forward, Ohio State knows it can rely on Brunk when called upon.

“We did come in thinking that he was going to be a guy we were actually going to run stuff for, partly because we’ve seen it in practice,” Holtmann said. “We’ve seen him score consistently in practice, so we did feel like he was capable of that. We just had to get him to his spots. He was probably even better than I thought, but we did go in saying, ‘We need to utilize him.’

“This was a good matchup for him. He’s got to continue to defend the spot better and the biggest thing for him is the ball screen defense, but he’s certainly earned the opportunity to (play) and we’re going to need him these next few games until those guys get back or even if they get back the next game.”

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