No. 16 Ohio State tries to sidestep a second straight loss as a Michigan team riding a wave of momentum plays host at 6 p.m. in Ann Arbor.
With Hunter Dickinson leading the way for the Wolverines, Michigan will try to avenge last season’s last-second Big Ten Tournament loss to the Buckeyes while knocking off a second straight ranked opponent in the process. Ranked as high as fourth in the country back in November, Michigan has suffered upset defeats to Seton Hall, Central Florida and Minnesota among others this season, but finally displayed its full potential in the Purdue game just two days ago.
"I think probably they would say they're playing as well as they've played all year. ... I think all of us who watched them and saw some of their struggles here early on knew that they certainly have the potential to get it rolling," Chris Holtmann said Friday. "They're gifted, they're talented, Juwan does a really good job. I think it's a really good team, there's a reason why they were top five or top six in the country in the preseason.
Ohio State will hope to prove that performance to be an aberration as it tries to avoid being beaten in back-to-back games for the first time all season on Saturday, but beating Howard’s Wolverines will be no easy task.Michigan’s 7-foot-1 star will attract a whole lot of attention from the Ohio State defense, and given how Dickinson fared against the Buckeyes last season, he better. Dickinson averaged 21.
"Bottom line is we've gotta be better defensively," Holtmann said."That's what has really gotten us in certain games. It has not been anything other than the fact that we've not been able to get stops when we needed to."Michigan may still be having an underwhelming season by its own standards, but there’s no denying the Wolverines will be riding high off the best performance of their season when the ball gets tipped Saturday.
That same Purdue team had a 20-point lead on Ohio State in the second half before nearly coughing it up just a couple weeks ago, and the Buckeyes are not exactly at a high point of their own season at the moment. With two losses in three games and four Big Ten road losses in the last five, Ohio State must make sure that momentum doesn’t play a factor in this one.With eight points against Rutgers, Ohio State’s bench simply did not give the Buckeyes enough in the losing effort.
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