The Buckeyes walked into the Crisler Center as the underdogs, but walked out the victors Saturday with an impressive win over its archrival.
Despite losing four of their past five Big Ten road games, No. 16 Ohio State got off the schneid with a 68-57 win over the Wolverines, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor for the second straight time since the 2019-20 season.
| Team | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| #16 OHIO STATE | 33 | 35 | 68 |
| MICHIGAN | 30 | 27 | 57 |
After taking a three-point lead to halftime, Ohio State went up by 10 early in the second half, but Michigan stayed within striking distance for most of the game. The Wolverines were down just five points with 2:59 to play, but Ohio State scored 11 of the last 16 points to win the game by 11.
The Buckeyes never trailed in the second half.
Cedric Russell provided a major lift for the Buckeyes off the bench, tying his season-high scoring total with 12 points, and E.J. Liddell led the way with a 28-point performance for the scarlet and gray.
Ohio State and Michigan went step for step with one another in the first half, as neither team led by more than four points during a period that saw nine lead changes. Jamari Wheeler and Russell gave the Buckeyes a boost with 10 early points, and Liddell picked things up from there, leading all scorers with 11 points in the opening frame.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MICHIGAN |
|---|---|---|
| 68 | POINTS | 57 |
| 24-48 (50%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 24-58 (41.4%) |
| 4-11 (36.4%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 4-17 (23.5%) |
| 16-18 (88.9%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 5-6 (83.3%) |
| 8 | TURNOVERS | 11 |
| 26 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 32 |
| 2 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 10 |
| 24 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 22 |
| 21 | BENCH POINTS | 4 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 3 | STEALS | 3 |
| 6 | ASSISTS | 16 |
Hunter Dickinson didn’t score for Michigan until the 8:45 mark, but he finished the first half with eight points to tie Eli Brooks for the team lead in the first 20 minutes. Dickinson’s point total helped lead the Wolverines to a 16-12 edge over Ohio State in points in the paint early on, but Michigan committed twice as many first-half turnovers as its scarlet and gray foe.
After a slow start from the floor, Ohio State closed the first half on six straight makes, as Liddell, Russell and Joey Brunk all hit shots in the final 1:42 to boost the Buckeyes to a 33-30 lead at the intermission. With seven points in the first half, Russell had the second most behind only Liddell.
Both teams combined to attempt just 12 3-pointers and three free throws in the first half, and the Wolverines did not go to the line a single time.
Punctuated by a pair of free throws from Liddell, an 8-2 Ohio State run in the first three minutes of the second half put the Buckeyes up 41-34 to claim their largest lead of the game at that point. Russell extended that lead even further at the 13:43 mark when a deep three from the Louisiana transfer put Ohio State up double digits for the first time.
But a cold shooting spell by the Buckeye kept the door open for Michigan, who cut the lead to five points with 6:45 to play as freshman forward Moussa Diabate split a pair of free throws. Liddell made it a seven-point game with a couple of scores thereafter, but a Dickinson dunk kept it a two-score game at the 5:27 mark.
Liddell and Dickinson traded a pair of buckets again with the clock ticking under four minutes to play, but an outside jumper from Russell put Ohio State ahead 57-49 with 3:32 to play in Ann Arbor.
Michigan cut it to a five-point Buckeye lead with 2:59 to go, but Kyle Young knocked down a pair of free throws to keep Ohio State ahead by seven. Malaki Branham knocked down a jumper to make it a nine-point game after that, and the Buckeyes closed out a hard fought victory in a hostile environment.
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was whistled for a technical foul with 39 seconds to play, but most of the home fans had already hit the exit at the Crisler Center.
What’s next: Ohio State heads home for its second matchup of the season with Minnesota on Tuesday.
Other Notes
- Russell played a season-high 24 minutes against Michigan.
- Meechie Johnson was unavailable for Ohio State due to a lower-leg injury, but Eugene Brown was made available after missing the past two games for the Buckeyes with a toe injury. Brown made the first start of his Buckeye career alongside Jamari Wheeler, Malaki Branham, E.J. Liddell and Zed Key.
- Ohio State used its seventh different starting lineup of the season against the Wolverines.
- Ohio State and Michigan split their two matchups in the 2020-21 season, with the Wolverines taking the regular season meeting and the Buckeyes winning the Big Ten Tournament semifinal contest.
- Saturday’s game was the 187th meeting between the two programs. Ohio State now holds an 101-79 edge in the series (excluding vacated games).
- Michigan defeated No. 3 Purdue by 24 points at the Crisler Center just two days before hosting Ohio State Saturday.
