INDIANAPOLIS – While the 3-pointer of Duane Washington Jr. bouncing off the edge, Justice Sueing placed himself under the basket, stood up and rolled up. With a hurry he jumped off the ground and placed the ball of the glass and through the ring. Screams of Sueing, the Ohio State bench and the scarlet and gray-clad fans present through Lucas Oil Stadium.
|
Team |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # 5 OHIO STATE | 26 | 42 | 68 |
|
# 1 MICHIGAN |
27 |
40 |
67 |
On the single play, Sueing put the Buckeyes up 61-50, with 5:17 left, and was expected to select Michigan winger Franz Wagner in the first round of the NBA Series within a few months. At that moment, if you were to let your mind wander, it started to feel a little more real than at an earlier point in the last few days that the state of Ohio would really be able to catch up and advance to the Big Ten Tournament Championship.
Five minutes of action – and a bit of drama – later, it became a reality. The Buckeyes, the fifth seed, defeated top-seeded Michigan, 68-67, Saturday afternoon to advance to the final game of the conference tournament.
Sueing’s and-one came amid a 7-point run that allowed the state of Ohio to extend a six-point lead to 13 points on EJ Liddell’s free throws with 4:19 left. Michigan, with starting center Hunter Dickinson scoring five points in a 40-second span, is within seven points of the Buckeyes with 2:44 left. Then it got worse.
|
OHIO STATE |
STAT |
MICHIGAN |
|---|---|---|
|
68 |
MARKS |
67 |
|
24-57 (42.1%) |
FGM-FGA (PCT.) |
20-57 (35.1%) |
|
12-22 (54.5%) |
3 PM-3PA (PCT.) |
6-19 (34.6%) |
|
8-14 (57.1%) |
FTM-FTA (PCT.) |
21-23 (91.3%) |
|
9 |
TURNOVERS |
2 |
|
37 |
TOTAL RETURNS |
36 |
|
10 |
INDICATIVE REFUNDS |
10 |
|
27 |
DEFENDIVE REFUNDS |
26 |
|
14 |
Bank points |
9 |
|
7 |
BLOCKS |
5 |
|
0 |
STEELS |
3 |
|
13 |
ASSISTANT |
14 |
The Buckeyes could not withstand the offensive battle in the second half that could put them in danger of possibly losing to Minnesota and Purdue in their previous two tournament games. Liddell turned it around twice in the last two minutes and put Michigan within four points with less than a minute to play. Chaundee Brown scored a triple-point with 48 seconds left to reduce Ohio State’s lead to 68-67. CJ Walker was left with 28 seconds left, but Mike Smith missed a jumper who was able to win to end the game.
The shootout in which the first Ohio State-Michigan game developed did not repeat itself on Saturday – at least in the first half.
The state of Ohio shot 30.3 percent off the floor and went 0-for-4 from the free-throw line, but its 6-for-13 point from three-point series and eight offensive boards gave the six-point- suspicion kept at striking distance. Conversely, Michigan inflicted most of its damage through the foul line (9-of-10) while struggling from outside the arc (2-of-9). It scored just 29.6 percent of the field goal in the first half.
Dickinson, 7-foot-1 center from Juwan Howard, apparently had an injury scare in the first few possessions of the game and asked to be replaced. However, according to the CBS broadcast, he hit a funny leg. When he was in action again, his presence lower helped keep Michigan blowing in the middle of the first half. A stretch of four and a half minutes without a basketball in Ohio State – which ended with an EJ Liddell lineup with 1:13 left – enabled Michigan to grab the lead at halftime. But it only went 27-26 until halftime due to a triple Seth Towns with 32 leftovers.
Following: The state of Ohio will face the winner of Illinois-Iowa in the Big Ten Championship on Sunday. The match will kick off at 3:30 pm and air on CBS.
Other notes
-
Senior forward Kyle Young suspended the match due to concussion. He continues with the daily medical protocols, and it is unclear when he may be back in court for the Buckeyes.
-
Chris Holtmann turns to Musa Jallow, a fourth-year winger, as his fifth starter in place of Young. When CJ Walker comes off the bench, he goes with Duane Washington Jr., Justin Ahrens, Musa Jallow, Justice Sueing and EJ Liddell.
-
This week, for the first time in his career, Holtmann won more than one match in a conference tournament. He also achieved his 200th victory as head coach on Friday.
-
It was Ohio State-Michigan’s second game of the season. They met once in the regular season, and the Wolverines came out on top 92-87.
-
If the state of Ohio is able to pull off a season-long fight from Michigan, the gold jerseys will be awarded to its players. It was implemented after the 2020-21 season. However, as the Buckeyes had already fallen to the team of Juwan Howard on February 21, they could not earn the gold jerseys, regardless of the result of Saturday.