Friday night is going to be a special night for the Michigan basketball program. Not only will the Wolverines host Ohio State in a critical Big Ten game, but the number of Trey Burke will be retired, and the U-M legend will be honored.
Outside of Chris Webber, Burke is my favorite Michigan basketball player of all time. There was the shot against Kansas, the wins in the rivalry games, the Final Four trip, and the National Player of the Year award.
There haven't been many Michigan basketball players on the level of Trey Burke. Glad that he's finally getting his flowers at Crisler Center. Good on Dusty May for making it happen. It took way too long.
A resume that speaks for itself pic.twitter.com/RTqH1Tdl13
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) January 22, 2026
Speaking of Burke, his Michigan teams were excellent in these games, especially at home. Michigan is ranked third in the AP poll. The Buckeyes, who are a 14.5-point favorite, are unranked. Yet, they have won three of their past four games and sit at 13-5 overall. Ohio State is 36th in the Kenpom rankings. The Wolverines are No. 1, with the No. 2 adjusted defense. Ohio State has the 23rd-best offense and the 68th-best defense.
The scouting report starts with Bruce Thornton. He's leading the Big Ten in minutes per game and scoring 20.7 a night. Thorton is shooting 56 percent from the field, 41.4 percent from 3-point range, and 65 percent on 2-point attempts.
Don't forget about John Mobley, though. The other dynamic guard for the Buckeyes is averaging 15.3 points per game. He averages 2.7 assists (Thornton averages 3.7), and like Thornton, he shoots 41 percent from beyond the arc. 6-foot-6 Devin Royal shoots 37.9 percent from deep. He's the third-leading scorer at 14.5 points per game, but after that, no Ohio State player shoots above 30 percent from 3-point range.
Christoph Tilly is a 7-footer, who averages 12 points per game but shoots just 47 percent from the field. He's also shooting just 12.8 percent from deep, although he was closer to 30 percent last season, so that could be something to watch with Aday Mara likely guarding him.
Ohio State shoots 60.3 percent on 2-point attempts (13th nationally). They are 22nd in field-goal percentage overall at 49.8, and rank in the top 60 in free throw makes and percentage.
Michigan needs a win to keep pace with first-place Nebraska in the Big Ten. Ohio State is a few games back, but can keep working its way up the standings with a signature win. Here are the keys and a prediction.
Be elite on defense
The biggest reason Michigan is 17-1 and ranked in the top five has been the defense. U-M struggled against Wisconsin, a team that was a matchup issue due to all of the stretch bigs. Ohio State has some bigs who can shoot, but they will need to catch fire as some Wisconsin players did.
Michigan's length is a problem. Yaxel Lendeborg, even though he's struggled a little offensively, is such a weapon on defense. Michigan will switch 1-4 when Mara is on the floor, but sometimes they can switch all five spots.
That forces a lot of individual plays. Yet, Ohio State is built for that, so it will be a solid test for Michigan's second-ranked defense.
Win the 2-point battle
Looking back at the Wisconsin loss, it was an outlier because of how well the Badgers shot the ball from deep. However, another thing that led to the upset was the way the Badgers were essentially even with Michigan on 2-point percentage. Both teams shot 56 percent.
The Wolverines were shooting 65.7 percent at one time. That number has dipped to 63.8. Michigan basketball is shooting 62 percent on 2-pointers in Big Ten play, which leads the conference. Their 2-point defense is also first (45.7 percent).
That's a 17-point advantage. Ohio State is one of the better 2-point teams, on both ends, through the first half of Big Ten play, so keeping that 2-point edge will be critical. If that number is close to even, that's trouble for Michigan.
Win on the boards
Rebounding was an issue for last season's Michigan basketball team. It wasn't supposed to be for this team, but offensive rebounding has been a problem recently, although not against Indiana.
The good news is that Ohio State is ranked seventh or lower in every rebounding category during Big Ten play. The Buckeyes are 140th nationally in total rebounding. Michigan is 8th.
However, the Wolverines are 11th in offensive rebounding in Big Ten games. That's way too low. We saw how offensive rebounding impacted the game against Indiana.
Michigan should be able to win the battle of the boards against the Buckeyes on both ends of the court. The offense needs to score, but defense and rebounding are the key to victory.
Prediction: Michigan 89, Ohio State 73
The Wolverines will win their fourth consecutive game by double digits. It won't be a blowout, but there won't be that much drama at the end either.