Ohio State needed a defining win, and beating Michigan basketball would have provided it. Instead, the Wolverines walked away with another quad-1 win that was as easy as it looked.
Ohio State just never stood a chance. The Buckeyes hung around, thanks to some hot shooting from Chris Tilly in the first half, but they couldn't sustain it.
Michigan's length and rim protection were too much for the Buckeyes, who were held to 35 percent from the field. Making matters worse for Ohio State was that the Wolverines made 10 3-pointers. Their 2-point offense wasn't quite as good as the first game, but the 3-point shooting was much improved, which was the ballgame for the Buckeyes.
They aren't good enough to beat Michigan when the Wolverines are shooting well. Here are three observations from the 82-61 win.
The bench is a weapon
Trey McKenney has scored in double figures in six straight games. He and LJ Cason were 4-of-6 from 3-point range with 20 points. Roddy Gayle didn't score, but played solid defense, and Will Tschetter came through with a triple to give the Wolverines 23 bench points compared to 11 for OSU.
Cason and McKenney are backups, but they each have the ability to take over games at times. We have seen them do it, and they each feel like an X-factor coming off the bench as they were on Saturday.
Michigan owned the paint
We predicted that Michigan basketball would dominate in the painted area, but that proved accurate. The Wolverines' frontcourt scored 49 points, grabbed 32 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Some of those points were on 3-point shots, but they still dominated down low.
Michigan shot 60 percent on 2-point attempts. The Wolverines pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, while Ohio State made just 39 percent of its 2-point attempts. You can't play much better defense than that.
Michigan basketball suffocated Ohio State
Bruce Thornton and John Mobley combined for 32 points in the first game. This time, they had just 20 points combined on 7-of-25 shooting.
It was an incredible effort. The Buckeyes only shot 39 percent total on 2-point attempts, which tends to reflect the quality of shots you get.
With the way Michigan can switch 1-4, and sometimes, 1-5, it's difficult for a team to get away from isolations. That's what Michigan wants. The Wolverines got what they wanted on Sunday, forcing Ohio State into difficult, contested 2s.
The Buckeyes didn't make many of those the first time, and Sunday was even worse.