Senior forward Zed Key (23) and Michigan sophomore forward Harris Reed Jr. (32) go up for the jump ball. Ohio State defeated the Wolverines 84-61 at the Schottenstein Center Sunday. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
Ohio State came into its last home matchup rolling and didn’t slow down.
Three straight wins, including four of their last five. That’s how hot the Buckeyes are right now.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team (18-12, 8-11 Big Ten) overwhelmed its archrival Michigan Sunday at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center (8-22, 3-16 Big Ten) 84-61, forcing 18 Wolverine turnovers and outscoring Michigan 22-2 on fast-break points.
“I think we’re playing with more urgency and aggressiveness [defensively],” Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler said. “You’re seeing that with some of the turnover numbers but the sense of urgency, aggressiveness and then I would also say just how together and connected we are.”
The Buckeyes started all of their seniors for senior day, including guard Dale Bonner, forward Zed Key, forward Jamison Battle and forward Owen Spencer.
Only 47 seconds into the game, Key saw an opening, drove down the lane and threw down a right-handed jam over Michigan sophomore forward Will Tschetter to put the Buckeyes on the board and send all 16,606 fans into a frenzy. Key said he just took what he was given.
“I saw that he was running out pretty quickly and I just read the game,” Key said. “I didn’t think I was going to dunk it.”
Ohio State came out of the gates aggressively on defense, forcing four Michigan turnovers in the first 4:52 of the game.
The Buckeyes’ defense wouldn’t deteriorate.
Michigan sophomore forward Tarris Reed Jr. had Key in the post and was backing him down before Thornton crashed from the perimeter and stripped the ball from Reed. In transition, Thornton found Battle on the left wing as he connected on a 3-pointer, forcing a Wolverine timeout.
Despite never leading, Michigan stuck around for the rest of the first half. The Buckeyes took a 32-27 lead into the break.
Thornton led the way for the Buckeyes with 8 first-half points.
Ohio State wasted little time in the second half before extending its lead.
Buckeyes sophomore center Felix Okpara reeled in a fast-break pass from Thornton down low and rose up with two hands, dunked the ball, gave Ohio State an 8-0 run to open the half with 17:29 to go and forced Wolverine head coach Juwan Howard to call a timeout.
Michigan wasn’t going down yet, though.
Wolverine sophomore guard Nimari Burnett slammed one home over Key, which cut the Buckeye lead to just six with 12:20 to go in the game.
However, its momentum was quickly halted on the next possession as Ohio State freshman guard Scotty Middleton swooshed a 3-pointer, pushing its lead back to nine.
It was all Ohio State the rest of the way.
The Buckeyes ended the final 7:21 to play by outscoring the Wolverines 24-12, which included a 17-2 run, propelling them ahead of Michigan 84-61 as the buzzer sounded.
“Ohio State has been playing some really good basketball,” Howard said.
The Buckeyes are looking to extend their winning streak to four and will head to Rutgers and take on the Scarlet Knights Sunday in the season finale. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
