Ohio State Outmatched In 82-61 Loss To No. 2 Michigan

Ohio State (15-8, 7-6 Big Ten) never held a lead in its 82-61 loss to No. 2 Michigan (22-1, 12-1) at the Schottenstein Center on Feb. 8.

The Buckeyes struggled to string multiple stops together throughout the game, partly due to giving up 17 offensive rebounds in the contest that allowed the Wolverines to score 14 second-chance points.

Michigan started the game on a 7-2 run, with a layup from senior center Christoph Tilly being the only points the Buckeyes score in the first two minutes of the game. But Tilly took two open three-pointers and made them both to get Ohio State to a one-point deficit at 16:25.

Rebounding became a problem early on for the Buckeyes when they allowed the Wolverines to grab five offensive boards in the first five minutes of the game, allowing them to score four second-chance points.

Down 13-8, sophomore guard Taison Chatman made a three-pointer to bring OSU within two points. From there, Michigan scored five straight points before senior guard Bruce Thornton scored his first points of the game at 11:02.

Thornton scored six straight for the Buckeyes before finding freshman forward Amare Bynum for a dunk to make the score 21-19.

After another 5-0 spurt from the Wolverines powered by Yaxel Lendeborg, a Bynum three-pointer and a putback layup from junior forward Devin Royal brought OSU back within two points.

Aday Mara and Nimari Burnett of Michigan each made a three-pointer to make it an eight-point deficit, and L.J. Cason made one of his own after Njegovan made one of two free throws to make the score 35-26.

Michigan extended the lead out to 12 points in the first half on another deep ball from Cason, but Thornton followed with his own immediately after with 42 seconds left and a 41-32 score.

The Buckeyes went into halftime down 44-34 being outrebounded 25-19. Michigan had 12 offensive rebounds compared to Ohio State’s 13 defensive boards.

Ohio State was held without a field goal for nearly the first three minutes of the half until Thornton made it a 50-39 game with a three-pointer. After each team scored four points, the Buckeyes went on a scoring drought of nearly four minutes, during which the Wolverines scored four more points for a 58-43 lead.

Chatman made another three-point jumper with 9:34 left to end the drought but Michigan was able to keep the large lead, stretching it to 20 points on a free throw from Lendeborg that made it 72-52 with 4:14 left.

Thornton led Ohio State in the loss with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting and tied for a team lead of six rebounds. Royal followed with 15 points and Tilly had 10.

Mara led Michigan with 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting and Lendeborg had 14 points with a game-high 14 rebounds, four of them on the offensive end.