[February 12, 2014]COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Beilein never
experienced the thrill of winning at Value City Arena in his seven
seasons as Michigan coach.
Until Tuesday night.
The No. 15 Wolverines won for the first time in 11 years at Ohio
State, recovering from an eight-point deficit early in the second
half for a 70-60 victory over the No. 22 Buckeyes before a sellout
crowd of 18,809.
The Wolverines (18-6, 10-2 Big Ten) ended a nine-game losing streak
in games played in Columbus. Their last win in Columbus came in
January 2003.
The victory nudged Michigan a half-game in front of Michigan State
atop the Big Ten standings with six conference games to play.
"We love getting road wins," Michigan forward Jordan Morgan said.
"That's one of the hardest things to do in this conference. So any
time you can get one of those, it's big.
"Obviously, this game means a lot to a lot of people. For us to come
into this hostile arena and get a win means a lot."
Ohio State coach Thad Matta suffered his first home loss to Michigan
in 10 meetings between the rivals but has a 17-5 record against the
Wolverines.
"You've got to find a way to make plays," Matta said. "We've lost
six games now this season and we've led in the second half in five
of them. The last couple of games we've made some plays we had to
make and tonight we couldn't do that."
Guard Nik Stauskas scored 15 points to lead Michigan, which lost its
last two Big Ten road games.
Freshman point guard Derrick Walton Jr. ignited the Wolverines in
the second half, scoring all of his 13 points and collecting eight
of his game-high 10 rebounds. Forward Glenn Robinson III and guard
Caris LeVert each added nine points.
"I thought the atmosphere was tremendous today," Beilein said.
"Right from tip-off, it was like we were playing in a Final Four
game. It was loud and a terrific example of two really good programs
playing Big Ten basketball. Once our guys settled down, we showed a
lot of high character."
Ohio State forward LaQuinton Ross led all scorers with 24 points and
added seven rebounds. Guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. contributed 13
points.
After Ohio State (19-6, 6-6) missed its last six shots from the
field in the first half, Ross scored four points and Jr. buried a
3-pointer from the left wing as the Buckeyes expanded a 30-26
halftime lead to 37-29. But Michigan responded with a 20-6 run to go
in front 49-43 on a three-point play by Walton with 8:53 remaining.
Ohio State kept it close. Ross' three-point play after rebounding
his own miss cut the deficit to 51-50 with 6:22 left.
Robinson nailed a big 3-pointer from the corner with 3:47 left to
make it 56-52 and the Buckeyes would never get closer. The
Wolverines outscored Ohio State 44-30 in the second half.
The Buckeyes made only 3 of 20 shots from 3-point range (15.0
percent) and the Wolverines were 8 of 17 from beyond the arc (47.1
percent), including 4 of 7 in the second half.
"It's hard to go 3 of 20 from 3 in this league and win,"Matta said.
Michigan hurt Ohio State with several key offensive rebounds to keep
possessions alive in the second half and end the Buckeyes'
three-game winning streak.
"Every loss hurts," Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft said.
"Obviously, you can't get comfortable and we found a way to play
tough on the road for a couple games and we came home and got one
and today we didn't have it.
"We have six games left, so as much as this may hurt, we have to
move forward. We have to find a way to continue to get better
because nothing's guaranteed and there's still a lot to play for."
NOTES: Ohio State senior G Aaron Craft and Michigan senior F Jordan
Morgan were named Tuesday to the five-member NCAA Division I
Allstate NABC Good Works team that honors community service. Craft
also was named Big Ten player of the week after leading the Buckeyes
to wins at Iowa and at home against Purdue. ... A number of Ohio
State students camped outside the Schottenstein Center starting
Sunday night in sub-zero temperatures to get in line for the best
seats when the doors to the arena opened. ... Craft and his
roommates organized a Taco Tuesday to raise money for LiFE Sports,
which helps send underprivileged kids to summer athletic camps. Fans
could purchase three tacos for $5 or T-shirts for $20. ... Michigan
G Caris LeVert is from Pickerington, Ohio, in suburban Columbus. He
averaged 19.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games last
week.
