Michigan Basketball: 3-point struggles doom Wolverines vs Ohio State

Michigan basketball got Eli Brooks back, but the Wolverines couldn’t make a shot from 3-point range with any consistency and Ohio State got the win.

When Michigan basketball is knocking down 3-pointers and limiting other teams from beyond the arc, the Wolverines are just about unbeatable. But that didn’t happen Sunday against Ohio State.

Instead, it was another cold-shooting day for the Wolverines on the road. Michigan basketball went 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from the 3-point line while Ohio State was 11-of-21 and shot 52.4 percent.

Forget the percentage, which was much higher for Ohio State, Michigan scored 21 points on 3-pointers. Ohio State scored 33 and in the end, the Buckeyes won 77-63, so the 3-point line was the difference.

Like years past, it seems to be a barometer for this team and the shots just weren’t falling Sunday. Franz Wagner hit four and scored 18 points but no one else made more than two. Isaiah Livers hit a couple of times but took eight shots and Eli Brooks was 1-of-4 with the other make. Both shot 25 percent from deep.

Michigan Wolverines Basketball

On the other side, Duane Washingon was 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Kaleb Wesson was also 4-of-5 and that, along with the fact that all five Ohio State starters reached double figures, was just too much for Michigan to overcome.

Zavier Simpson, an Ohio native looking for his first win in the rivalry in Columbus, fell short. He scored 12 points, dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds. Wagner also grabbed 10 boards to give him a double-double.

The loss drops the Wolverines back to 9-9 in the Big Ten conference and makes sure that Ohio State will own the tiebreaker. Next up on the schedule is Nebraska at home, followed by a road game at Maryland, which is battling it out for the Big Ten title.

In the grand scheme of things, a road loss against a team like Ohio State isn’t going to hurt Michigan, it’s just painful to get swept in the season series unless there happens to be another game in the Big Ten tournament.

You know it especially hurts Simpson and Jon Teske, who are each from the state of Ohio but were never able to win a game at Columbus.

That’s life though and Michigan is still headed to the NCAA tournament, although in terms of seeding, the game Thursday against Nebraska is an important one. Michigan can’t afford a three or four-game losing streak right now and a loss to the Huskers could count as a bad one, which is exactly what the Wolverines don’t need.