No. 3 Michigan rides second-half run to rivalry win over Ohio State
Published in Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On a night the Michigan men’s basketball program celebrated its past, the Wolverines gave fans another reason to cheer on the present.
After raising Trey Burke’s No. 3 jersey to the Crisler Center rafters, No. 3 Michigan used a pivotal second-half run to take down Ohio State, 74-62, in Friday’s rivalry game.
Yaxel Lendeborg had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead four double-digit scorers for Michigan (18-1, 8-1 Big Ten), which has won four in a row by double figures.
The Wolverines took a 33-30 lead at the break before Burke’s career was celebrated and his jersey was honored during a halftime ceremony.
A rough start to the second half put a damper on the good vibes. The Buckeyes ripped off a 10-1 run in the first 2:20 that was capped by back-to-back 3s by John Mobley Jr. and Christoph Tilly to grab a 40-34 lead.
Michigan responded with a quick burst of its own. Morez Johnson Jr. scored inside. A steal by Elliot Cadeau led to acrobatic fast-break layup by Lendeborg. A steal by Johnson preceded an and-1 layup by Trey McKenney. An 11-0 run put the Wolverines in front, 45-40, with 14:57 to play.
Ohio State countered with back-to-back 3s, including one from Tilly that was banked in over the outstretched arms of Aday Mara, to regain a 46-45 edge.
The two sides continued to go back and forth until Michigan took the lead for good with a 21-6 spurt that was keyed by Cadeau and Mara. Johnson broke a tie game with a thunderous dunk off a feed from Cadeau. Cadeau hit two huge 3-pointers during a string of eight unanswered points.
Cadeau and Mara continued to make plays. Mara threw down a putback jam. Then after Mara stole an inbounds pass, Cadeau found McKenney for a 3-pointer. By the time Mara ended the flurry by knocking down two free throws after being fouled on an offensive rebound, Michigan led, 71-56, with 3:17 remaining and was on its way to another win.
Johnson finished with 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting, McKenney scored 12 off the bench and Mara added 11 points and six rebounds for Michigan, which shot 51.9% from the field but finished 5 for 23 from deep and 15 for 25 on free throws.
Mobley scored 22 and Tilly 17 for Ohio State (13-6, 5-4), which shot 40.7% from the floor. Bruce Thornton, who ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.7 points, finished with 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
The Wolverines kicked the festive night off with a bang. After winning the tip, Cadeau connected with Mara on an alley-oop dunk in the first seven seconds. Nimari Burnett drained a corner 3-pointer. Less than a minute into the contest, chants of “F Ohio” broke out.
But things got a bit rocky from there. Michigan couldn’t get into a flow and turned it over five times in the opening eight minutes, with several giveaways coming on unforced errors and bad passes. Ohio State took advantage of most of those, scoring eight of its first 12 points off turnovers.
Neither side led by more than three until Mobley hit back-to-back 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. The first came on a second-chance opportunity following an offensive rebound. The second was a rushed shot that beat the shot clock and put Ohio State up, 20-14, with 9:54 left in the first half.
Michigan used a 6-0 burst to pull back in front. L.J. Cason scored a layup in transition. Mara forced a turnover and swatted a shot out of bounds on back-to-back possessions. Johnson dunked a lob pass from Lendeborg on a fast break to make it 28-26 at the 3:17 mark.
Despite some clunky and sloppy stretches, Michigan made six of its last nine shots of the half and held Ohio State to two baskets over the final five minutes to take a 33-30 edge into the break.
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