Michigan Falls to Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Ohio State might be the best basketball team in the country.
So for Michigan to come into Value City Arena and play the Buckeyes within single digits for most of Tuesday night’s game, eventually losing, 76-63, that’s a sign of progress.
It’s not an upset win or even anything that will help the tournament resume, but for confidence, it could go a long way.
“In terms of on the road, this is the best we’ve played on the road against a good team,” U-M center Courtney Sims said, referring to Michigan’s blowout losses to UCLA, Purdue, Wisconsin and Indiana. “The score was closer than what it looked. We can build on this and go to other road games that we have coming up, (Michigan) State, Illinois, and play really well there.”
After last Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss to Iowa, this was to be a test of the Wolverines’ will. That’s what they needed most from Tuesday, confidence _ even in their fourth-straight loss.
Against Ohio State, winner of eight straight, that’s about all you can get.
The Buckeyes (21-3, 9-1 Big Ten) never lost control of the game, mostly because freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. wouldn’t let them.
He set another career high, scoring 23 points, shooting a guard-impressive 9-of-12 from the field and consistently using his speed to blow past the Wolverines.
The Wolverines’ best chance came with 8:52 remaining in the second half, when they closed to 56-52, but were unable to take the lead with OSU’s star center Greg Oden on the bench for eight minutes because of foul trouble.
That’s when he returned and Michigan (16-8, 4-5) didn’t score another field goal for nearly four minutes, watching Ohio State push its lead to 12 points at 65-53 with five minutes left.
While Oden was contained offensively, scoring only 15 points, he and Othello Hunter each had five blocks .
“It was equally disappointing for us that we couldn’t block out better,” Amaker said, referring to Ohio State’s 16 offensive rebounds.
There was no overwhelming area where Michigan shined, just a balanced effort.
Dion Harris rebounded from his atrocious game against Iowa, scoring 14 points with five assists, and handling the ball entirely as Jerret Smith stayed home with his concussion symptoms.
Sims played Oden to an offensive standstill, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds while forcing Oden’s foul trouble.
And freshman forward Ekpe Udoh showed no intimidation, rolling up 14 points and five rebounds, starting in place of Brent Petway, who only played a few minutes due to his injured left knee.
Michigan outshot the Buckeyes from the field, hitting 50% of its shots and tied a season low with 10 turnovers.
“It lets us know we can play well on the road,” Harris said. “We took our time on offense and we had a good game plan to slow those guys down.”
After the previous three games, that effort was progress.
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