In front of a sold-out Crisler Center that was amped to honor Michigan legend Trey Burke, the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines bested Ohio State in front of the Columbus native, 74-62.
This game is now a Big Ten-protected
rivalry, meaning we will see the Wolverines and Buckeyes play each other twice a year, a push that Dusty May and Jake Diebler had been pushing for since last season. Ohio State entered this game 13-5 overall, with a 12-point victory over UCLA being its best win on paper. Entering this game at No. 35 in the NET with a 1-4 record in Quad 1 games, a win tonight would have helped the Buckeyes’ tournament resume immensely. But beating this Michigan team has been a nearly impossible task all season.
Burke was honored at halftime, as the former Michigan point guard got to speak before posing with John Beilein, Warde Manuel and several former teammates. Before the second half started, his iconic No. 3 jersey was raised to the rafters.
Thankfully, Burke and his family got to witness a Michigan victory. Here are six takeaways from the win.
Yaxel looks healthy again and played well
Lendeborg had been nursing a bruised calf the last few weeks after getting injured in the USC win. He told us after the Indiana win earlier this week that he’s at 95 percent, and you could tell he was nearly back to full strength with the energy he played with on both ends.
Lendeborg was swarming on defense right out of the gate, collecting two quick steals and scoring six points in his first eight minutes on the court. Late in the first half, he knocked down a big corner three-pointer late in the first half, and threw a perfect lob to Roddy Gayle Jr. to get the Crisler Center on their feet. Another lob to Morez Johnson Jr. gave Michigan a 28-26 lead with 3:08 left in the half, and he led all Wolverines with nine points in the first half.
Lendeborg stayed aggressive in the second half, getting to the free-throw line twice in the first 90 seconds of play. He was the catalyst of an 11-0 run that helped Michigan jump out to a 45-40 lead five minutes into the second half.
He kept facilitating in that second half and led Michigan with 18 points. With Lendeborg seemingly back at full strength, Michigan can get back to its dominant ways.
John Mobley Jr. played his butt off
Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr. was getting shots to fall early, scoring 14 points in his first 13 minutes on the floor after knocking down six of his first 10 shots. He stayed hot to start the second half, knocking down his first two shots to get up to 19 points to provide the Buckeyes with consistent scoring.
Mobley finished with 22 points, but was relatively quiet for most of the second half. Credit to Michigan’s defense for stepping up late and not allowing him to get even hotter.
Interior defense played a big factor
Ohio State was able to get a few tough shots in the lane to fall early, but Michigan clamped down on the interior, with Aday Mara and Johnson forcing a lot of key misses around the rim. Mara had three blocks in the first half alone, screaming louder with each block as the Crisler crowd fed off his energy.
While the Buckeyes drove to the rim well in that first half, Michigan held them to eight points in the paint in the second half, a big reason why they were able to pull away. Mara didn’t have a great offensive night, but his four timely blocks played a big factor in the victory.
Trey McKenney and L.J. Cason provide a spark
Man, that young back court duo just keeps getting better.
Like Lendeborg, freshman Trey McKenney did a good job drawing fouls and getting buckets on Friday night. McKenney scored five key points in the first eight minutes of the first half. His three-pointer off the dribble with four minutes left in the game was basically the dagger, giving Michigan a 69-56 lead.
L.J. Cason played great defense, stepping in for Elliot Cadeau as he was on the bench for a large chunk of the first half with foul trouble. He also had a few timely buckets.
The pairing combined to score 18 points while playing solid on-ball defense. McKenney and Cason play really well together, and could be one of the best starting back courts in the Big Ten next season.
Sloppy start with turnover trouble throughout the game
The Buckeyes’ zone defense that proved to be effective, and it collapsed on Wolverines in the paint. Michigan didn’t take care of the ball well early, turning it over six times in the first 10 game minutes. This was a big reason why Ohio State led for a decent portion of the first half, as the Wolverines didn’t control the pace of the game like they wanted to.
Turnovers were an issue all night for the Wolverines; they looked like last year’s turnover-prone squad, with 14 turnovers preventing any sort of rhythm on offense until late in the game.
A rough night from three and from the charity stripe
What hurt Michigan’s offense immensely tonight was not being able to hit threes or free throws consistently.
Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett were the only Wolverines to make a three in the first 3/4 of the game, as the team made only two of its first 16 attempts. But Cadeau stepped up when Michigan needed it, with two big threes late in the second half to take a 60-51 lead with 6:30 left.
Just like we saw in the Indiana game, Michigan struggled from the charity stripe, too. Michigan made just 50 percent of its first 18 free throws, about 30 percent away from the mark that most coaches aim for. You don’t win many games when you shoot 21.7 percent from three and 60 percent from the free throw line, but Michigan was able to do that against OSU.
Up Next
The Wolverines have a challenging week ahead with two Top-10 opponents on the docket. They host a red-hot 18-0 No. 7 Nebraska squad (Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. on Peacock) before heading to East Lansing to take on Tom Izzo and the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans (Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. on FOX). Notably, May is still looking for his first victory over MSU, with the Spartans winning both rivalry games last year.
