Recap: Ohio State Falls Behind In Second Half, Loses To No. 3 Michigan 74-62

Ohio State (13-6, 5-4 Big Ten) was unable to take down No. 3 Michigan (18-1, 8-1), falling 74-62 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 23.

The Buckeyes played the Wolverines close for most of the game before falling behind by double digits late in the second half, a deficit they were unable to come back from.

Michigan scored the first points of the game on its first possession and sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. followed immediately with points of his own. After a three-pointer from Nimari Burnett, the Wolverines remained slightly ahead until 14:19 when Mobley made a layup to take a 10-9 lead off a turnover.

In the first eight minutes of the game, the Buckeyes forced five Michigan turnovers and held a 14-13 lead at the first media timeout with 11:38 left in the half.

From there, Ohio State went on a quick 6-1 run to take a 20-14 lead on two three-point jumpers from Mobley. The Wolverines brought the game back within one possession multiple times and tied the game back up at 26 on a layup from L.J. Cason, taking the lead again, 28-26, the next time down the floor on a fast-break alley-oop at 3:17.

Senior guard Bruce Thornton tied it back up with a layup, and U-M and OSU traded baskets again for a 30-30 score with 1:36 left. Aday Mara made the first of two free throws and when he missed the second, Michigan grabbed the rebound and capitalized with a layup. The Wolverines led 33-30 when the game went to halftime.

The Buckeyes tied the game up at 34 just over a minute into the second half on a reverse layup from freshman forward Amare Bynum. Then, with three-pointers from Mobley and senior center Christoph Tilly, the Buckeyes took another six-point lead just 2:20 into the half.

But Michigan scored six straight points to tie the game back up at 40 points and added five more to take the lead. Then, OSU went on a 6-0 run of its own to take the lead back with three-pointers from Bynum and Tilly, making it the third time in his career that Tilly made multiple threes in a game.

After OSU took a 48-47 lead, junior forward Devin Royal was called for a technical foul that gave U-M a free throw and possession for a layup.

With 7:52 left, Michigan took a 55-51 lead on a three-pointer from Elliot Cadeau and two free throws and a three gave the Wolverines a nine-point lead, the biggest for either team in the game.

That was until, with 4:52 left in the game, Yaxel Lendeborg made a fast-break layup to go up 66-56, and the deficit soon stretched to 15 on two free throws by Mara. Tilly ended an OSU scoring drought that lasted nearly three minutes, but with 2:51 remaining, it was far too late for the Buckeyes to stage a comeback.

Ohio State was led by Mobley in the game, who had 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Tilly scored 17 for the Buckeyes on 6-of-12 shooting while Thornton had 10 points, making just 3 of 11 field goals. Thornton added a team-high nine rebounds in the game.

Michigan had four players reach double figures, but was led by Lendeborg, who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds.