Ohio State finished the home portion of the regular season schedule, never trailing, running away in the second half and sending the visiting Wolverines home with 84-61 loss to split the season series between the pair.  The Buckeyes, winners of 3 in a row and 4 out of 5, improved to 18-12, 8-11 and Michigan dropped their 7th straight game, falling to 8-22, 3-16. The Buckeyes made 56% of their shot attempts with 5 of 12 going down from three and held Michigan to just 36% shooting and 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. Ohio State held a slight 31-29 rebounding edge, and held a 40-10 advantage in bench points, building a lead as large as 29 to cruise to the finish line. Ohio State was led by 17 from Bruce Thornton to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, 15 from Roddy Gayle and Dale Bonner added 10. Michigan got a game high 19 from Dug McDaniel and 13 from Terrance Williams III. 

Senior night started with style as the Buckeyes got on the board first when Zed Key put it on the floor from the top of the key, split the defense through the lane and finished with a monstrous dunk electrifying the big crowd. A couple of possessions later, Roddy Gayle fed Key at the left block for a lay-in, putting the Buckeyes up 4 before Michigan finally got on the board a little less than 4 minutes into the game. With offense at a premium early in the ballgame, the under 16 media timeout was called after Thornton was fouled attacking the rim with the Buckeyes leading 4-2. Coming out of the timeout, Thornton went to the stripe and buried the pair and after active defense forced a Michigan turnover, Dale Bonner split the defense and scored with a scoop off the window. Ohio State extended the lead when Thornton bagged another pair of free throws before Michigan’s 2nd field goal of the game, a triple dropped. After a Buckeye turnover, Michigan scored off the glass to cut the lead to 3 and at the under 12 media timeout, Ohio State led 10-7 despite hitting just 3 of 11 and all 4 three point attempts. A pair of free throws got Michigan to within 1 before a Key fade away 10 footer fell, stopping the Wolverine 7-0 run. A Devin Royal dunk increased Ohio State’s lead and after Key poked a ball loose on the defensive end, Jamison Battle buried a three from the left wing forcing Michigan to call a timeout with the Buckeyes leading 17-9 and on a 7-0 run of their own. Michigan ended the run with a 15 footer, but Bonner attacked the rim on the other end and his floater fell to answer. Michigan scored at the rim on their end and after Key was fouled attempting a short jumper, the under 8 media timeout was called with Ohio State leading 19-13. Key went to the stripe coming out of the break in action and buried both his free throw attempts to put the Buckeyes back ahead by 8, but Michigan answered with a 4-0 run to get back to within 4. A Roddy Gayle scoop and score stopped the run, but another 4-0 Wolverine run closed the gap back to 2. Thornton knifed through the defense for a dunk to extend the lead, but a Michigan triple cut the lead to just 1. An Okpara block led to a breakout where Thornton used a hesitation dribble to get to the rim and score off the window and at the final media timeout of the first half, Ohio State led 27-24. Felix Okpara split a pair of free throws to extend the lead and after a defensive stop, Battle fed Okpara for a dunk. After Michigan split a pair of free throws, Gayle spun to the rim and scored off the glass. Michigan finished the scoring, after Ohio State’s shot fell off target, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring off the window just before the horn and Ohio State took a 32-27 lead into the locker room. The Buckeyes led by as many as 8 on two separate occasions and never trailed. Despite forcing 9 Wolverine turnovers and Michigan hitting just 40% of their shots and dominating in the paint, out scoring Michigan 20-12. Ohio State only led by 5. Ohio State turned it over 7 times themselves and missed several attempts at the rim or the lead could have and should have been more. The Buckeyes made 44% of their attempts and just 1 of 6 from three. Ohio State was led by Bruce Thornton and Zed Key with 8 each, while Michigan got 9 from Dug McDaniel.

Ohio State opened the second half, scoring the first 8 to open up a 13 point lead, forcing Michigan to call an early timeout. After Thornton bagged a pair of free throws, Gayle exploded to the right baseline and laid it in off the glass. The Buckeyes took back to back Michigan misses to get out in transition. First, Thornton found Evan Mahaffey streaking to the rim for a lay-in and then on the next possession, Gayle lobbed to Okpara for a dunk, resulting in the timeout with 17:29 to play and Ohio State leading 40-27.  Out of the timeout, a steal led to Gayle breaking the other way for an uncontested dunk. Michigan stopped the 10-0 Ohio State run, hitting a jumper mid-paint and following a Buckeye turnover, a Michigan triple cut the lead back to 10. Ohio State turned it over again and Michigan took advantage, scoring again to get back to within single digits and when Ohio State was whistled for an offensive foul, turning it back over to Michigan, the under 16 media timeout was called with Michigan on a 7-0 run and Ohio State leading 42-34. Ohio State forced another Michigan turnover and Royal was fouled going to the rim and his ensuing free throws both fell to stop the Wolverine run. After Michigan knocked down two free throws, Battle came off a Key screen and drilled a 15 foot baseline jumper. Michigan hit another pair of free throws and after a Buckeye turnover, Michigan got to the rim for a dunk to trim the lead to 6. Ohio State answered with a Scotty Middleton triple from the left wing and at the under 12, Ohio State led 49-40. Ohio State extended the lead out of the timeout when Gayle got to the rim off the bounce and scored off the window as he was fouled and the free throw dropped to complete the old-fashioned three point play and the Buckeyes led by 12. Following a Michigan miss, the Buckeyes got out in transition and Gayle’s lob to Key went awry when Michigan’s Jace Howard undercut Key and Zed was not too happy, going after Howard drawing a technical foul. Michigan made both technical free throws and on the other end, Key went to the line and split the pair putting Ohio State up 11. A Michigan triple cut into the lead, but on the other end, Gayle went to the line after getting fouled attacking the rim where he split the pair.  A Michigan bucket got the Wolverines a bit closer, but a Thornton triple from the left wing put Ohio State back up 10. Following a Michigan miss, Gayle streaked down the floor and scored through contact and he completed the three point play with the free throw. A Michigan runner off the glass dropped and at the under 8, Ohio State led Michigan 60-49. Out of the timeout, Thornton went to the line and bagged both to extend the lead, but Michigan answered with a runner. A corner three by Battle increased the lead and after a Michigan miss, Mahaffey scored off the glass in transition and Jake Diebler took a timeout with 5:58 to play and Ohio State leading 67-51. Two more Thornton free throws increased the Buckeye lead and after Bonner picked the pocket of a Wolverine, he was fouled in transition putting him on the line where he split the pair. After a Michigan miss, Ohio State got out in transition again and Thornton fed Royal for a dunk and on the next possession, Bonner took the ball away again and went the other way for a lay in forcing Michigan to call a timeout with 3:57 to play and Ohio State now leading 74-51 and on a 12-0 run to gain complete control. Out of the timeout, Middleton took it away and was fouled in transition, putting the freshman on the stripe where he rattled down the pair as Michigan had gone over 3 minutes without scoring. Michigan finally got back on the board with a pair of freebies to stop the 14-0 run, but Middleton drilled a triple on the left wing to increase the lead. Another steal and break out led to a Bonner old-fashioned three point play and the seniors left the floor for one final time in the Schott with Ohio State leading by 29. Michigan hit a pair of free throws as Michigan coach Juwan Howard emptied his bench. Bowen Hardman split a pair of free throws and Michigan scored on their end with a minute to play. Colby Baumann split a pair of free throws and Michigan did the same and after a Buckeye miss, Michigan hit a logo three to complete the scoring. 

That was as good a second half of basketball as this team can probably play. They were efficient on the offensive end where they shot it at a high level and forced the tempo at every opportunity. Ohio State hit 71% of their shot attempts including 4 of 6 from deep in the second half and they forced 18 Michigan turnovers for the game where they turned them into a 22-2 advantage in fastbreak points. They also ratcheted up the defense, forcing Michigan to miss 20 of their 30 shot attempts, pulling away for an easy win. The Jake Diebler era, whether it be just until the end of the season or beyond, has brought excitement back to Ohio State basketball.  They are playing a fast, attacking and physical style of basketball that this team had been lacking earlier in the year. They are making a late season push and need the next one and probably 2 in the Big Ten tournament but the NCAA isn’t as far fetched as it was a few weeks ago. Regardless, there will be one more regular season game, the Big Ten Tournament and either an NCAA bid or NIT bid and even an NIT didn’t seem reachable not long ago.

Ohio State finishes the regular season on Sunday afternoon at Rutgers. Tip time is scheduled for 2PM airing on BTN.

-Jason Harris

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