The Buckeyes have a massive, mitten-shaped challenge on their hands.
On Friday night, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (13-5, 5-3) is set to face off with a complete buzzsaw in Michigan (17-1, 7-1).
The Wolverines are currently ranked third in the AP Poll and are first in the NET rankings, with a combined record of 12-1 in Quad-1 and Quad-2 games. Dusty May’s squad is also the owner of the highest adjusted efficiency rating for a Big Ten team in the history of the KenPom ratings (36.04), dating back to the 1996-97 season.
Michigan spent most of the first two months of the season mowing down everyone in their wake, including three 30-point wins at the Players’ Era Festival, a 30-point win over USC, and a 41-point blowout of a completely overwhelmed Rutgers team. Their absurd margins of victory led some to wonder if this Michigan team is the greatest regular-season team in college basketball history.
Over the last two weeks, the Wolverines have come back down to earth a bit, going 4-1 in their last five games, losing to Wisconsin at home but beating Penn State, Washington, Oregon, and Indiana by an average margin of “only” nine points.
Michigan hasn’t completely run an opponent off the road in a few weeks. After some of the comments a few Ohio State players have made about this Friday’s game, the Buckeyes will have nobody to blame but themselves if the Wolverines keep their foot on the gas for all 40 minutes, regardless of score.
Bruce Thornton, Colin White, and the Buckeyes wouldn’t have it any other way.
During Big Ten media days in Chicago this past October, Thornton — the first four-time team captain in program history — said he was looking forward to facing Michigan twice this season. He went beyond that, however, telling the Columbus Dispatch that he guaranteed Ohio State would beat Michigan twice this season.
“Of course, especially because we’re going to beat them twice before I leave,” he said. “I feel like there ain’t no better feeling than that. I feel like we’re very capable this year of making that happen. Why not us?”
Did Thornton know at the time that this particular Michigan team would turn into one of the most dominant college basketball teams of the 21st century? Probably not. But that’s why you don’t write that check without knowing what amount it’s for.
In Thornton’s defense, there’s nobody on this year’s Ohio State team that wants to beat Michigan more than he does. The senior has gone 1-3 against Michigan in his career and watched his good friend and teammate Roddy Gayle defect from Ohio State for Michigan last year.
Gayle and the Wolverines were victorious in Columbus last season, 86-83, with the then-junior scoring a tie-breaking layup with 1:45 left in the game, and then was filmed leading Michigan singing “Hail to the Victors” in the visiting locker room at the Schottenstein Center after the game. Thornton then watched Gayle win the Big Ten Tournament as a Wolverine and advance to the Sweet Sixteen — Gayle’s first experience in the NCAA Tournament after never making it at Ohio State.
Thornton, the final remaining member of Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class, also could have sought out alternative or “greener” pastures like several of his teammates have done. Instead, he stayed to finish what he started, still seeking his first shot at the NCAA Tournament after three years. Beating Gayle and Michigan this season is clearly a box he is hoping to check off on his way out the door. Unfortunately for Thornton and the Buckeyes, they are clear, drastic underdogs in this fight.
Sophomore forward Colin White — an Ottawa, Ohio-native — one-upped Thornton Tuesday night following Ohio State’s 82-74 overtime win over Minnesota. White, who had a key steal and score during the overtime period, was being interviewed on the court by the in-arena host. He was asked about Friday’s game against Michigan, to which White responded:
“We hate Michigan, so we’re coming out for blood. We’re going up there to win, and we’re going to have fun doing it.”
Talk about blind confidence, eh? The sophomore, who is averaging 0.8 points and 1.1 rebounds per game this season in just over nine minutes per game, did not go as far as Thornton in guaranteeing a victory (technically). But the “coming out for blood” part added hostility to a rivalry that, generally speaking, has not been that hostile on the hardwood.
After White’s on-court interview, Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler said he understands what White meant “figuratively” speaking, and also mentioned that, while this game only counts for one win or loss — the same as any other — it means more to the program than any other game on the schedule.
“I think I understand what he (White) means, figuratively, at least … this is a game we’re all really excited for. This is a game that should be played twice a year, and I’m glad the Big Ten did that. It should be that way always and forever. We’re really excited about the opportunity. They’re playing really well, but we’re doing some really good things, too.
“We’re going to go up there and give it our absolute best, and we’re going to prepare our absolute best for this game. This game means more. Yes, it counts as much on your Big Ten record as other games, but make no mistake, it’s this way — I would imagine — in every single sport. This game just means a little bit more. But we’ve gotta prepare like we’ve been preparing. We can’t get caught up on anything else, other than being as mentally and physically prepared as we can possibly be.”
The Buckeyes come into Friday’s game playing their best basketball of the season — they’ve won three of their last four games, and their three leading scorers are seeing the ball go into the basket with regularity. In their wins over UCLA and Minnesota over the past week, Thornton averaged 22 points per game, John Mobley Jr. averaged 27 points per game, and Devin Royal averaged 19 points per game.
Michigan has size, shooting, and is the fastest team in the Big Ten per KenPom’s tempo metric. Three of their starters are 6-foot-9 or taller, including 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara. KenPom is predicting an 89-73 Michigan victory. ESPN’s BPI gives Ohio State just an 11% chance to win. The betting line will likely be upwards of 16 points in favor of the Wolverines, who — coincidentally — are also retiring the jersey of former National Player of the Year and Columbus-native Trey Burke at halftime.
Thornton and White said what they felt needed to be said. Now, can Ohio State, the metaphorical David, knock down a Goliath of a team on their home court?
