No. 2 Michigan Dominates From Start to Finish, Defeating Ohio State by 21 Points on the Road

While temperatures in Columbus dipped below freezing, the atmosphere inside the Jerome Schottenstein Center was anything but cold. The nearly sold-out arena was packed with energy and excitement as Michigan, the number two-ranked team in the country, was in town for a rematch with the Buckeyes after defeating them on their home floor 74-62 just a few weeks ago. Ohio State was looking to hand Michigan only its second loss of the season, and its first since losing to Wisconsin at home on January 10.

The Wolverines jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first half, in part due to their stellar work on the glass. On an early possession in the first half, Morez Johnson Jr pulled down three offensive boards of his misses and made his fourth attempt to give Michigan a 9-5 lead. Both teams exchanged blows, and after the first media timeout, Taison Chatman checked in to the contest for the first time and knocked down a three to cut the Michigan lead to 13-11. The Buckeyes, who have been searching for scoring from their bench all season long, thought that they may have found that spark off the bench. Instead, Michigan responded with a 5-0 run heading into the twelve-minute media timeout, leading 18-11. 

The Wolverines were able to hold the top two leading scorers of the Buckeyes in check, as neither Bruce Thornton nor John Mobley Jr. scored in the first eight minutes of the contest. Thornton finally scored his first basket on a jumper with 11:02 left in the first half, which was the start of six straight points for the senior point guard. Going into the third media timeout of the first half, with 7:15 left, Michigan led 26-19. Ohio State then put a little run together out of the timeout, and a Devin Royal offensive rebound and putback, cut the lead to two at 24-26. Mobley finally got into the scoring column with a driving layup with 4:15 left in the half, but Michigan was starting to take control of the game. They outscored Ohio State 9-6 to take a ten-point lead into the locker room 44-34.

The Wolverines set the tone in the second half instantly, outscoring the Buckeyes 10-5 to jump out to a fifteen-point lead. Then a Thornton bucket, followed by a Michigan turnover, another Thornton bucket, and a second straight Michigan bucket gave Ohio State the ball down eleven at 54-43. It felt as if Ohio State had a little bit of life. Michigan, however, showed no signs of backing down; they jumped out to a fifteen-point lead at 58-43, and Ohio State was unable to cut the deficit below twelve. Michigan won the second half 38-27 and cruised to a wire-to-wire, 21-point victory, 82-61, for their eighth straight victory.

Michigan was led by Aday Mara with 24 points, knocking down his first two three-pointers of the season. Yaxel Lendenborg pitched in 14 points and hauled in 14 rebounds. Trey McKenney scored 12 points, and Johnson Jr. had 11 points and 12 rebounds. For the Buckeyes, Thornton had 16 points. Devin Royal and Christoph Tilly both were in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively. The Wolverines outrebounded the Buckeyes 44-31, including 17 offensive rebounds to Ohio State’s 9.

As Coach Diebler mentioned in his postgame press conference, this is a game that means a lot to the fans and even more to the players. A loss to Michigan weighs a little heavier than a loss to any other opponent; however, with eight games left in the regular season, every game from here on out will carry more weight. Ohio State has got to shake this loss and ramp up the physicality and intensity the rest of the way, as they have another huge conference game against USC in the Schottenstein Center on Wednesday.