Ohio State overcomes 20-point deficit to defeat Michigan, 71-62
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Three Buckeyes went into double figures in this comeback.
There were 12,546 in attendance at Value City Arena that watched the
Ohio State Buckeyes battle the
Michigan Wolverines. After a very one-sided half in favor for the Team Up North, the Buckeyes rallied back in the second half, and came back from as many as 20 points to defeat the Wolverines, 71-62.
Ohio State improves to 7-3 on the season, and 2-0 in conference play. Michigan now falls to 7-3 overall.
Here’s how this one went down.
After a miss by fellow guard
Charles Matthews, and a turnover by the Bucks’
Musa Jallow,
Eli Brooks put in the first basket of the game after 58 seconds. Jae’Sean Tate would put in a layup of his own as a rebuttal, drawing the game at 2-2 with 18:19 left in the half.
Two layups, as well as a three from Brooks, had the Wolverines out early to a 9-3 lead. And by the time that the first media timeout occurred (14:18), The Team Up North had pulled away with a 12-6 lead. However, a mini-scoring drought by that
team would allow the Buckeyes to hold court at a 6-point deficit.
Kyle Young got himself a couple buckets, and then
C.J. Jackson popped in a three from the near wing, but the home team still trailed, 19-13.
A big time block by
Kaleb Wesson on
Moritz Wagner gave the Buckeyes some momentum, but a missed chance to score points minimized the effect of the block. On the other end, the Wolverines nailed a three, courtesy of Ibi Watson. Like the opening basket, OSU came back with a rebuttal three attempt on their next possession, and made it.
At the under-8 minute media timeout, Ohio State still trailed, 22-16.
Another three from Wagner, a dribble drive layup from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, and a make from
Jordan Poole would push Michigan to their largest lead of the early going. With a 12 point, 29-17, lead, things couldn’t go worse for OSU could it?
Well, it could. Ohio State’s shooting slump didn’t stop—leading to a stretch where they didn’t make a shot for over four minutes. In the same time span, UM went on a 13-1 scoring run, and connected on six of their seven shots.
Breaking up the scoring slump was Bates-Diop, who hit a near identical three as Jackson’s from earlier in the half. Going into the under-4 minute media timeout, though, Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes were trailing, 36-20.
Off the break, John Beilein’s team kept up a hot-hand, and went on a 7-0 run.
Kam Williams was able to make a three of his own, but Michigan kept on sinking their shots. On the bright side, Tate had the highlight of the half: a one handed slam over top a Michigan defender.
Beilein called for a timeout after the dunk—so it at least got the Wolverines off their game for a second.
Unfortunately, the dunk couldn’t be worth more points, as OSU went into the half down 43-30. But, the basketBucks went on a 7-0 run of their own to end the half.
A big reason behind the deficit though was because Michigan went 7-of-16 from three-point range, and had an 11-to-3 advantage on second-chance points. Ohio State shot 10-of-23 from the field, making five of their eight shots from beyond the arc.
Coming off of the halftime break, the Buckeyes kept their streak alive. Wesson split a pair of free throws, and Tate threw down the ball to get Ohio State within 10. A missed Michigan layup followed by a Bates-Diop jumper brought the Bucks within eight—and led to Beilein calling a 30-second timeout at the 17:43 mark of the half.
Kam Williams made a runner, bringing OSU to a 14-0 run, stretched over the two halves. Wesson got in a shot underneath the basket, and made it. Needing a basket in the worst way, Brooks fired a shot from the corner—it looked like a rainbow shot—and hit nothing but net; the shot broke up a 16-0 run by the Buckeyes.
At the under-16 minute media timeout, the comeback was nearing completion as OSU trailed 46-41.
Michigan continued their slump, as Ohio State continued to heate up. Makes by Jackson and Tate, who missed an and-1, brought the Buckeyes within one, 46-45. However, both teams stayed gridlocked at this score for roughly two minutes. A pair of free throws at the 12:29 mark by Bates-Diop gave OSU their first lead of the game.
A charge by Matthews kept the Wolverines drought at over four minutes. On top of that, they missed seven straight shots. Ohio State, who just got the lead, added to it by working the ball inside to Bates-Diop, who put up a beautiful shot off the glass that went right into the basket. Another media timeout came at 11:28, but unlike the others, OSU had the lead. Over the course of 10 minutes, OSU went on a 26-3 run.
With a 49-46 lead after the timeout, Michigan came back with a dribble drive of their own—drawing a foul.
Jon Teske got credit for the shot, and followed up with the conversion of the and-1.
After the tie, Tate was fouled on a shot, and split his free throws. Not long after that, Young worked his way on the inside for a layup. Michigan’s offensive woes continued, as their scoring drought remerged—this time lasting over 2:16. Another make (a layup by Jackson) pushed OSU to their largest lead of the night at five.
Zavier Simpson put an end to the UM struggles with a layup, bringing the score to 54-51 with 8:32 left. Free throws were traded, as Wesson buried both of his after being fouled; Poole made his after making a layup in traffic.
With the game at a 56-54 advantage to the Buckeyes, the Wolverines’ Wagner drove to the basket and drew a foul on Young—or so he thought. After a brief conversation, Ted Valentine and co. (the refs) reversed the call. The Michigan offensive turnover took us to the under-8 media timeout.
Back from the break, Tate made a couple of nifty moves to the basket before putting an off-balanced shot. He missed it, though. Michigan went to the other end and, after missing their initial shot and getting an offensive rebound, drew a foul on a layup. Simpson went to the line and made both of his freebies, bringing us to a 56-56 tie with a little more than six minutes on the clock.
A pair of Abdur-Rahkman free throws got the Wolverines their lead back. Right after the free shots went down, Bates-Diop lost control of the ball, leading to Tate diving after the ball. He didn’t get the ball, and to make matters even worse, he stayed down with an apparent leg injury, but got up after a minute and seemed fine.
Both teams proceeded to struggle making field goals. Another errant three from Tate led to Wesson fighting for the rebound. While that is all good, he was called for a foul, sending Wagner to the line. Two more freebies gave UM a 60-56 lead with 4:45 left in regulation.
Tate came back on the other end and worked a shot over Wagner, bringing the gap to just two points. Michigan went over four minutes without a made FG, and continued that trend after Wagner airballed a three-pointer. At the final media timeout at 3:58, it was still a two-point advantage for the Wolverines.
Down two in the home stretch, Williams swished in a shot with the shot clock winding down. Tied up at 60, the Wolverines’ next possession was thrown away—leading to Jackson going to the line for free throws. He made the first, but missed the second.
Duncan Robinson missed a shot for Michigan; his miss continued a trend of five straight misses by the Wolverines. Bates-Diop was then fouled, and he took advantage of his freebies. After making both, OSU went up 63-60.
On the very next possession, UM continued their fouling ways, ultimately sending Jackson to the line for two more free throws. He made both to make it a 65-60 lead for OSU.
Even though Michigan got another basket in, it wasn’t enough to overcome the comeback orchestrated by the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is back in action on Saturday against William & Mary. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
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