COLUMBUS, OH — There’s never a good way to lose to a rival. But if there’s a most demoralizing way, it might be by getting manhandled in the physical battle.
That was Ohio State’s reality on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Value City Arena, when Michigan basketball bullied the Buckeyes on the glass from the jump, then lit them up from outside en route to a 82-61 win. Chants of "Let’s Go Blue" from the road crowd broke out in the second half.
Michigan outrebounded OSU, 44-31, including 17-9 on the offensive end. That’s how U-M took 17 more shot attempts, and even though the nation’s top-ranked 2-point shooting team wasn’t up to par from close range − the Wolverines were 23 of 48 on 2s − it still won the battle of second-chance points, 12-9, and dominated in the paint, 42-20.
Aday Mara scored a career-best 24 points, and Yaxel Lendeborg (14 points and 14 rebounds) and Morez Johnson Jr. (11 points and 12 rebounds) provided double-doubles. Trey McKenney scored 12 off the bench, his sixth straight game in double figures, to help U-M roll to its eighth straight win.
U-M (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten) stayed unbeaten on the road this season, one of three teams in Division 1, and continued its program-best start to a season.
While U-M had its way down low, it shot well from 3-point range for the second game in a row. U-M made 10 of 24 3s (41.7%) highlighted by a 3:46 stretch in the first half when it drilled five to build a double-digit lead. U-M made nine 3s in the first half, with six different players making at least one.
OSU did not get within 10 at any point in the second half, as U-M completed the season sweep of OSU (15-8, 7-6), after a win Jan. 23 in Ann Arbor, 74-62.
Senior guard Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 16 points.
Big Ten basketball standings
U-M, at 12-1, now enjoys a one-game lead in the conference standings with seven conference games remaining.
Illinois' loss Saturday nightat Michigan State in overtime dropped the Illini to second place with an 11-2 conference mark. Nebraska is third at 10-2 and MSU is fourth at 10-3. The top-four teams earn double-byes in the Big Ten tournament into the quarterfinals.
Michigan basketball schedule this week
U-M visits Northwestern on Wednesday (8:30 p.m., BTN), and hosts UCLA on Saturday (1 p.m., Fox).
Wolverines frontline is double trouble
Johnson opened the game with a bulldozing layup. Then, with U-M up 7-5, he corralled his own miss three times before he finished a layup. A few trips later, he got another offensive rebound and though he missed the putback, Mara came flying in for a tip-slam.
Others got involved on the glass − L.J. Cason grabbed a loose ball and flipped up a floater, and McKenney grabbed one which led to a Will Tschetter corner 3 − but U-M’s massive frontline set the tone.
Mara even drilled a pair of 3s in the first half, too, to damage the Buckeyes' energy.
U-M heightened its attack right out of the break: Johnson forced a turnover on the first play, before Mara threw a pass to a cutting Lendeborg for a thunderous finish. Mara followed with a swat on the other end and then consecutive buckets − a hook shot and an alley-oop slam − to give U-M a 50-36 lead.
Johnson and Mara scored or assisted on U-M’s first 16 points of the half until McKenney hit a midrange jumper with 7:39 left.
Lendeborg dominated in the second half, scoring nine points and grabbing 11 boards after the break.
U-M's 3-point shooting a gut-punch to OSU
The game was tight midway through the first half − Thornton threw a lob to Amare Bynum to get within 21-19. After a pair of Lendeborg free throws, the Wolverines started shredding the nets.
At one point, it took 69 seconds for U-M to drill three straight 3s: Nimari Burnett from the right wing, Cason − free off a screen − on the left side and then Mara from straight on to make it 38-28 as players on the Wolverines' bench rose.
U-M finished the first half 9-for-18 (50%) from deep, then switched its strategy in the second half knowing the Buckeyes would look to run shooters off the line. This led to three dunks on the first six baskets of the half.
McKenney’s 3-pointer from the right corner with 6:23 remaining was U-M’s only second-half 3.
This story will be updated.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball sweeps Ohio State to reclaim Big Ten lead