National Basketball Association
Michigan 72, Ohio St. 69
When: 1:40 PM ET, Saturday, March 15, 2014
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Lamont Simpson, # Michael Kitts, # Larry Scriotto
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 9 Michigan 72, No. 24 Ohio State 69: Nik Stauskas scored 18 points as the Wolverines held off the pesky Buckeyes to advance to the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis for the first time since 1998.
Caris LeVert added 17 points and eight rebounds for Michigan (25-7), which ended Ohio State’s five-year run of making the title game and will face Wisconsin or Michigan State in Sunday’s championship game. Glenn Robinson III contributed 11 points, three steals and two blocks as the Wolverines shot 53.2 percent from the field, including 12-of-23 beyond the arc.
LaQuinton Ross paced Ohio State (25-9) with 19 points while Shannon Scott matched a career high with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals off the bench. The Buckeyes, who had won 20 of their last 24 Big Ten tournament games, have dropped three straight to their arch-rival after winning 17 of the previous 20 meetings.
Michigan connected on seven of its first nine 3-point attempts to build a 32-16 advantage with 7½ minutes to go before the break, but Ohio State answered with three straight triples to key a half-ending 21-9 run. Stauskas knocked down two more 3-pointers early in the second half to help Michigan stretch the margin to 12 before the Buckeyes rallied again, getting five points from Scott during a 17-4 surge that gave them their first lead of the game at 61-60 with eight minutes left.
Ohio State scored seven of the next eight points following a 3-pointer by LeVert to pull ahead 68-65 on a layup from Sam Thompson with just over four minutes left, but the Buckeyes could only manage one free throw thereafter. A pair of buckets by Stauskas bookended a 6-0 burst to put the Wolverines back in front with 2:08 left, while the Buckeyes came up short on their final five field goal attempts and two of their last three free throws.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Since going 3-0 to win the inaugural Big Ten tournament title, Michigan had not won more than one game at this event before Saturday. … Ohio State’s comeback from a 16-point deficit came one game after it staged an 18-point rally in Friday’s quarterfinal win against Nebraska – the largest comeback in Big Ten tournament history. … The Wolverines’ 41 first-half points were the most allowed by Ohio State in the opening 20 minutes this season.
Top Game Performances
| Ohio St. |
|
Michigan |
|
LaQuinton Ross 19 |
Scoring |
Nik Stauskas 18 |
|
Aaron Craft 6 |
Assists |
Derrick Walton Jr. 4 |
|
Aaron Craft 7 |
Rebounds |
Caris LeVert 8 |
|
LaQuinton Ross 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Caris LeVert 3 |
|
Shannon Scott 3 |
Steals |
Glenn Robinson III 3 |
|
LaQuinton Ross 1 |
Blocks |
Glenn Robinson III 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Ohio St.
|
69 |
48.2 |
7-19 |
8-12 |
17 |
31 |
2 |
10 |
11 |
| Michigan
|
72 |
53.2 |
12-23 |
10-19 |
15 |
23 |
3 |
7 |
12 |
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