Michigan edges Ohio State 92-87 in back-and-forth Big Ten barnburner
COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Trailing 77-74 with 2:40 to play on Sunday, Ohio State forward Justice Sueing turned the ball over on a behind-the-back pass that Michigan forward Isaiah Livers scooped up and ran down the other way for an and-one layup in transition.
It was the beginning of the end for the No. 4 Ohio State (18-5, 12-5 Big Ten), which struggled to defend freshman center Hunter Dickinson and the fervent ball movement of No. 3 Michigan (16-1, 11-1) in the second half of a back-and-forth Big Ten slugfest that ended 92-87 in Columbus.
“We turned it over, they had a couple offensive rebounds in a key sequence. I think ultimately that was the difference,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said.
Dickinson scored 16 points in the second half and 22 for the game as Ohio State failed to keep pace with the Wolverines in the final four minutes, ending the Buckeyes’ win streak at seven games.
Ohio State junior guard Duane Washington kept Ohio State alive at nearly every turn to finish the game with a career-high 30 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Buckeyes, even with an additional 23 from sophomore forward E.J. Liddell.
Knotted at 69-all with less than six minutes to play, Michigan capitalized on several second chance opportunities to take a 73-69 lead, but Washington responded with a much-needed 3 from the top of the arc to put the Buckeyes back within a point.
The Buckeyes could not stop Dickinson on the other end though, which became a running theme late as the freshman threw down an emphatic two-handed dunk in heavy traffic at the rim that led to an Ohio State timeout.
Leads didn’t last long on either side for most of the second half as both sides traded buckets, but Ohio State pulled ahead by four points on a 10-3 run from 13:09 to 10:00, giving the Buckeyes a 65-61 advantage.
The Wolverines came right back with a run of their own though, ripping off six unanswered points to retake the lead 67-61.
Ohio State got back out front around the seven-minute mark on an and-one pick and roll basket from Liddell, but Dickinson answered right back with a foul line jumper.
“We can hang with them and we showed that, but we just didn’t make them miss," Liddell said. "They were out there making tons of shots.”
Ohio State and Michigan went shot for shot for most of the first half, with the Wolverines scoring a layup at the buzzer to take a 45-43 advantage into the locker room after a high-octane performance from both offenses.
The Buckeyes either led or tied for the first 11 minutes of the half, but Michigan’s 3-point shooting began to catch up with Ohio State.
Senior guard Chaundee Brown hit three 3s in the first half, and he knocked down two back-to-back to give Michigan its first lead of the game as part of an 8-0 run from 10:43 to 8:11.
Brown and senior guards Mike Smith and Eli Brooks went a combined 7-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, and the Wolverines hit 10-of-13 3s in what proved to be the difference in the opening 20 minutes.
Liddell and Washington did the heavy lifting for the Buckeyes offensively, combining for 26 of Ohio State’s 43 first half points on 10-for17 shooting from the field with each knocking down a pair of triples.
Freshman guard Meechie Johnson pulled up from NBA range to retake the lead for Ohio State with a 3-point make at the 2:47 mark, but Livers countered with a 3 of his own on the ensuing Michigan possession.
Livers finished with just 12 points on the game, but Smith and Brooks gave the Wolverines a boost with 32 combined points on 11-for-17 shooting.
“They were making shots at a higher clip, maybe, than what their percentages have shown," Holtmann said. "Some of it was a byproduct of us being in scramble situations, worrying about the big fellow too much. Some of it was they made some tough shots.”
The Buckeyes begin the final three-game stretch of the regular season on Thursday, when they travel to East Lansing for a rematch with Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.