Michigan Outlasts Ohio State In Game Of Runs

The energy in the building was palpable, but that was expected. It was the Wolverines against the Buckeyes, after all.

The No. 3 Michigan men's basketball team (18-1 overall, 8-1 Big Ten) was able to pull out a gutsy 74-62 victory over rivals Ohio State (13-6, 5-4).

The Buckeyes opened the game in a zone, daring Michigan to shoot from the perimeter and trying to take away its size advantage, but they didn’t stay in any defense for too long. One possession they’d boot up in man-to-man, and the next a trapping zone.

The defensive variation was effective. It had Michigan’s offense looking rather stagnant, and its turnover bugaboo returned. By the time eight minutes had ticked off, Ohio State held a slim 14-13 lead, and the Wolverines had turned the ball over five times.

The Buckeyes were playing Michigan’s own brand of basketball. They were being scrappy on defense, crashing the glass, and pushing the pace in transition. The Wolverines looked out of sorts, and Ohio State looked confident and comfortable.

Michigan was playing from behind for much of the first half — something that has been rare all season — as the Buckeyes opened up a lead as large as six points at 20-14.

Toward the end of the half, however, the Wolverines went on their first run of the game. They settled in on the defensive end, and pushed the tempo to get easy looks at the rim. Led by graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg’s nine points, Michigan entered halftime with a 33-30 lead.

Ohio State wasted no time recapturing the momentum of the contest, starting the second half off on a 10-1 run. By the time the head coach Dusty May called a timeout, the Wolverines found themselves down 40-34.

Whatever May said in the huddle must have had some impact, because out of that early timeout, his squad upped its energy to go on a 11-0 run to close the gap and then some to take a 45-40 lead. And if it wasn't already clear that this game would be decided by runs, the Buckeyes went on a 6-0 run to snatch the lead right back.

The teams operated in lock-step for the middle portion of the half. Neither squad could extend their lead past two possessions, and it became increasingly possible that the team that could put together one final scoring run would take the game.

And Michigan answered the bell. Starting around the eight-minute mark, junior guard Elliot Cadeau kicked off a 21-6 run with a deep left-wing 3-pointer. Over the next three minutes, the Wolverines combined stops with buckets, slowly opening up a 10-point cushion at 66-56.

Ohio State called a timeout to try to quell the storm, but out of the huddle, Crisler Center erupted once more when freshman guard Trey McKenney banged in a right-wing triple to push the lead to 13.

In a game of runs, the Wolverines got the last say. Their massive push to open up the double-digit lead was enough to get them over the finish line with a hard-fought victory.

Even in basketball, Michigan and Ohio State are bitter rivals, and any rivalry win is an important one. The Buckeyes played tough, but the Wolverines were ultimately able to pull out the win