Ohio State (12-3, 2-2) vs. No. 25/24 Michigan (13-4, 3-2)

Date: Saturday, January 17
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Place: Crisler Arena – capacity 13,751
TV: Big Ten Network with Tom Hamilton, Shon Morris and Clarissa Thompson.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland on the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Series History: Ohio State owns a 83-70 all-time record against Michigan.
Last Game: Ohio State lost 80-70 at Crisler Arena on Feb. 17, 2007. Kosta Koufos scored 18 points and Evan Turner added 16 for the Buckeyes.

Right: Michigan guard Manny Harris leads the Wolverines averaging 18.7 points per game. (AP Photo)

Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes venture up to Crisler Arena for a Saturday night tilt against the Michigan Wolverines. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. and it will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Ohio State is coming off a pair of wins after losing two consecutive games in conference. On Tuesday night, the Buckeyes dismantled Indiana 77-53 at Value City Arena. Meanwhile, Michigan dropped a 66-51 decision to Illinois in Champaign on Wednesday night after winning three straight Big Ten contests.

The Wolverines are led on the outside by 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Manny Harris, who is second in the Big Ten in scoring averaging 18.7 points per game. On the inside, 6-foot-8 junior forward DeShawn Sims is third in the conference with a 15.9 points per game average and second in rebounding with 7.2 caroms per ball game.

Harris scored 20 points in a losing effort against the Illini, Wednesday night, while freshman forward Zack Novak had nine rebounds for the Wolverines. No other UM player scored in double figures against Illinois.

Michigan gained some recognition during the month of November by beating then No. 4 UCLA and knocking off fifth-ranked Duke two weeks later.

Michigan’s four losses have come at the hands of Duke, Maryland, Wisconsin, and the aforementioned Illinois.

This is a really big game for the Buckeyes, needing to pick up a few road wins against conference foes and remain in contention for a Big Ten title. The starting five has played well, but Ohio State is going to need the other five who ride the pine to step up their play. Currently, OSU only dresses 10 players after injuries to David Lighty, Nikola Kecman, and Mark Titus, as well as Anthony Crater leaving the program.

Crisler Arena will be a sellout for only the second time this season and the venue is old and small, but it can get quite loud, especially with all of the students right there at court level. It’s going to be a hostile environment for the young Bucks’, but if they can keep their poise like they did against Miami and play well like they have the last two games, it could be upset time.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Freshman center B. J. Mullens hammers down two of his 14 points vs. the Hoosiers. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

Granted, Ohio State’s last two opponents will never be confused with any team John Wooden had at UCLA. Be that as it may, Ohio State has rebounded nicely from the two losses to Minnesota and Michigan State during the first week in January by defeating Houston Baptist and Indiana in the second week as OSU continues on without starting forward David Lighty.

Sure, Lighty was mic’ed up during the Indiana game which was televised by ESPN and was able to talk to the future Mrs. Barker, Erin Andrews, while on the sidelines. But it’s becoming more apparent that with the play of William Buford, Lighty’s services aren’t as valuable as much anymore.

Buford, a 6-foot-5 freshman swingman from Toledo Libbey High School, scored 19 points for the second straight game as the Buckeyes easily defeated the Hoosiers 77-53 at Value City Arena, Tuesday night.

Buford also added seven rebounds and three assists for the Buckeyes.

Again, there’s no Alcindor or Walton look-a-likes suiting up for Indiana, who only dressed nine scholarship players against Ohio State, but one thing is for sure, Tom Crean is a tremendous coach and a fine dresser. He will have Indiana back at the top in a few years, even if he does look like actor David Lander, who played Squiggy on the TV show, “Laverne and Shirley.”
(Photo on the left.)


With 13:35 remaining in the first half, Indiana’s Malik Story stole the ball from Ohio State’s B.J. Mullens and raced down the court for a layup that made the score 15-10 in favor of the Buckeyes.

Think it’s going to be a close game, huh? Think again.

Ohio State went on from that mark to score 18 unanswered points in a matter of a mere five minutes and two seconds on four 3-pointers, an offensive putback by Mullens, a layup in transition from Jon Diebler, and a two-handed jam by Mullens on a great pass from Diebler that put the Buckeyes ahead 33-10 with 8:33 left until intermission.

Ohio State led 44-28 at halftime.

The closest Indiana could get in the second half was 13 points on two different occasions, the last time happening when Tom Pritchard tipped-in his own missed layup that trimmed OSU lead down to 49-36 with 15:23 remaining.

The Buckeyes’ biggest advantage came with 6:41 left when Evan Turner drained a three-ball from the baseline in front of Ohio State’s bench that put the home team ahead 70-45.

Along with Buford in double figures for the Buckeyes’ in scoring was Diebler, who scored all 17 of his points in the first half. Mullens came off the bench to score 14 while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds, and Jeremie Simmons added 12 points with eight assists.

Ohio State made nine of its first 11 triples and hit 13-of-24 from beyond the arc for the game, and when the shots counted as two points, the Buckeyes were 15-of-29. Overall, OSU was 28-of-53 (52.8%) from the field.

Up next, Ohio State travels to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan, Saturday night. Tip-off at Crisler Arena is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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