Rapid reaction to Michigan’s 82-61 win at Ohio State.
THE MOMENT
Both offenses were rather stagnant in the second half until Trey McKenney got off a great look in the corner, sinking a three to put Michigan up 67-52. It was both the Wolverines’ first 3-pointer in nearly 15 minutes and a bucket that sparked an 8-0 run for Michigan.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored in transition, then McKenney put his head down and drove through contact, making both free throws and extending the lead. A free-throw from Lendeborg a few possessions later put the Wolverines up 20 for the first time all game, and rendered an Ohio State comeback impossible.
Those flashes of scoring were predicated on Michigan’s defense, as both McKenney and Lendeborg’s drives were spurred by steals. The Wolverines offense didn’t slow down after that run either, and Michigan cruised to a 21-point win on the road.
THE TAKEAWAY
It was a somewhat atypical Michigan win — apart from the defense.
The Wolverines held Ohio State to just 61 points, the Buckeyes’ fewest this season. Their second? A 62-point outing in Ann Arbor just over two weeks ago. As usual, Michigan was active and engaged on switches, and — outside of Bruce Thornton’s 16 points — contained Ohio State’s offense. Even Thornton took some time to get going, and the deficit proved insurmountable by the time he comfortably got to his spots.
Starting at 14:13 in the second half, the Buckeyes didn’t score for nearly five minutes. The Wolverines didn’t quite blow the game open, but shutting down an elite offense like Ohio State for a crucial stretch was key in winning this one.
On the other end of the floor, Michigan’s great 3-point shooting and poor 2-point shooting were uncharacteristic. But it didn’t really matter — the Wolverines’ lock-down defense brings them to 22-1 as their schedule ramps up.
THE STAR
Morez Johnson Jr. had his fingerprints all over this win, notching an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double. The sophomore forward grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half alone — five of those on the offensive glass — and was Michigan’s most impactful defensive player.
Johnson, and pretty much every other Wolverine, missed some easy 2-pointers in the first half but frequently made up for it on the other end, staying aware with switches and shutting down Ohio State in the paint. There were several Buckeye drives throughout the game that got turned around just because Johnson was anchored under the rim.
He looked like the most physical player on the floor whenever he checked in, and flexed his knack for corralling missed shots and loose balls over his 23 minutes. During the stretches where Michigan’s shots weren’t falling, Johnson generating second-chance points and staying productive on defense sustained the Wolverines’ lead for the entire game.
THE STAT
Michigan ended the game with 44 rebounds to Ohio State’s 31, and it felt like even more than that.
That’s partially because of how dominant the Wolverines were on the glass early — Michigan more than doubled the Buckeyes’ rebounds in the opening ten minutes. The Wolverines came out of the gate as the more physical team, setting a tone on the boards that Ohio State never matched.
Michigan ended with a 43.6% offensivey rebounding rate, one of its best this season, and the difference in physicality proved evident as the scoring margin grew.
FOUR FACTORS
DLhoops
Aday Mara putting the stretch in stretch 5 has to terrify opponents. I mean if he’s canning 3s if left open that opens up even more possibilities for us on offense.
Royalman10
Canning 2 threes and his FT % creeping up are good omens but I’m not sold on it yet, would have to see it happen more
B1G_E
I’d feature Mara over Rez if we’re focusing on big play. Rez wasn’t his usual efficient self and Mara had a dandy on both ends, with key blocks and passes out of double teams, not to mention his two threes.
I’ll put this here to avoid indulging it in the recap, but gosh damm the officiating crew for kludging up the 2H and sucking a lot of the joy out of what could have been a fun game. Totally chopped and made me yearn for the wanton violence of the 1H. Inexcusable.
t5851dh
Couldn’t agree more! I really try to avoid ref slamming because the fan bases on both sides say the same things every game, but has there been a worse officiated game this year? Thankfully we were on the right side of things when it ended. On to the next one!