COLUMBUS, Ohio • Tom Izzo is not a coach who likes to take his foot off the gas pedal.

But he did, and as a result, 11th-ranked Michigan State had more fuel in the tank.

Adreian Payne scored 15 points, Draymond Green had 12 — and a critical talk with the coach — and the defense-minded Spartans defeated No. 3 Ohio State 58-48 Saturday night, ending the Buckeyes' 39-game home winning streak.

"I told him the most important thing for us is going to be energy, trying to keep our energy level high," Green said of his conversation before Friday's workout. "Pretty much everything was just a walkthrough, knowing your assignments. That was really key for us."

Izzo admitted giving the Spartans a light practice the day before a major showdown was 'something I never do."

"I knew we were just dragging because we had gone, like, 11 straight days," he said. "I listened to my players. Draymond Green took care of (talking to his teammates) and it was just a focused walkthrough. Those kinds of things, they don't come up on the stat sheet."

The Spartans (20-5, 9-3 Big Ten) pulled into a tie with the Buckeyes (21-4, 9-3) for first place in the conference by playing a withering, physical defense. Ohio State hit just 26 percent of its shots from the field (14 of 53).

"You have to give them a lot of credit. That's what they hang their hat on — pressure defense and limiting us to one shot," said Aaron Craft, who almost doubled his average with 15 points for Ohio State.

Swapping body blows and occasional buckets, the teams took turns making mini-runs in the second half. Ohio State pulled to 44-40 on a 15-footer by All-American forward Jared Sullinger, but Keith Appling, who had 14 points for the Spartans, hit two free throws and Derrick Nix coaxed in a baby hook to push the lead back to eight.

Payne then banked in a left-handed shot over Sullinger, before Sullinger was called for a charge to pick up his fourth foul with 2 minutes left. Next Green drove around Deshaun Thomas for a baseline layup to stretch the lead to 10.

Ohio State never got closer than eight again.

"I thought we did a good enough job defensively to win the game," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. "It all came down to our inability to put the ball in the basket."

Izzo was happy with what he called perhaps his team's best defensive effort of the year, but also said he was relieved that the Buckeyes continually misfired even when unguarded.

"Maybe they wore down a little bit, I don't know," he said. "They missed some 3s, a couple of open, open ones late that I've seen them make on a regular basis."

Sullinger had 17 points and 16 rebounds but was just five of 15 from the field. Deshaun Thomas and William Buford, averaging a combined 30 points, totaled just 12 — each hitting just two of 12 shots from the field.