Big Ten brawl pits Buckeyes against Wolverines

Ann Arbor, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Bitter Big Ten Conference rivals square off on Sunday afternoon, as the 24th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes pay a visit to the Michigan Wolverines.

Both teams began the season with so much promise, but conference play, particularly in the Big Ten, has a way of balancing the scales and making good teams seem anything but at times.

Ohio State went 11-2 during the non-conference portion of its schedule, but the Buckeyes have gone 8-5 since, failing to string together more than three straight wins since running off four in a row from Dec. 6-17. OSU dropped a 59-56 decision at Michigan State on Valentine’s Day, saddling the team with its fifth loss in eight true road games.

Michigan began the campaign at 6-1, but four straight setbacks from Dec. 6-20, including a 72-70 home loss to NJIT, started the team on a downward spiral that has it currently locked in at an even 13-13, 6-8 in conference. The Wolverines are mired in a five-game losing streak, with their latest defeat coming in an 80-67 final versus visiting Michigan State last Tuesday. As a result, UM has lost its last two in front of the hometown faithful.

Ohio State beat Michigan in Columbus back on Jan. 13, 71-52, to extend its lead in the all-time series to 100-76. In that contest, D’Angelo Russell paced the Buckeyes with 21 points and six assists, while the Wolverines were led by Caris LeVert with 14 points. Michigan was held to 33.9 percent field goal efficiency, and that included a dreadful 6-of-26 showing from 3-point range.

In Ohio State’s recent clash with Michigan State, Shannon Scott led the way with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Russell, Jae’Sean Tate and Sam Thompson tacked on 10 points apiece in what turned out to be a narrow road loss for the Buckeyes. OSU went just 5-of-17 beyond the arc and a miserable 5-of-13 at the free-throw line, while MSU nailed seven treys and got 20 points from its reserves compared to only three for the visitors.

Russell (19.1 ppg, 5.5 apg) has certainly made the most of his opportunities in this, his freshman season as he currently ranks second in the Big Ten in both scoring and assists. He also grabs 5.8 rpg to rank in the league’s top-20. Scott (6.2 apg) is the league’s top assist man, as it is his job to get the ball to guys like Russell, Marc Loving (11.2 ppg) and Thompson (10.2 ppg) as often as possible. With all that production, it’s no wonder Ohio State ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring at 78 ppg, doing so on the strength of its league-leading 49.9 percent shooting effort. The Buckeyes are third in 3- point field goal percentage (.384), and they also do a nice job at the defensive end in permitting only 61.1 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of .390 overall and .315 from distance — all of which rank them second in the conference.

Michigan also took on Michigan State in its most recent outing, and it too fell by the wayside despite putting four players in double figures and outscoring the home team at the foul line, 21-12. Zak Irvin hit three 3- pointers en route to 16 points for the Wolverines, who also got 12 points each from Spike Albrecht, Aubrey Dawkins and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. UM shot just 39.6 percent from the field, while allowing MSU to convert a sizzling 62 percent of its total shots. Both teams took very care of the basketball, combining for only 14 turnovers.

The loss of leading scorer LeVert (14.9 ppg) to a season-ending foot injury has left what was already a lackluster offensive team heading in the wrong direction as it has won only twice in the eight games since. As it stands now, Michigan is averaging just 63.9 ppg on a mere 41.6 percent shooting performance, both of which rank the team in the bottom three of the 14-team conference. The Wolverines are one of the better free-throw shooting squads, ranking third at 75 percent, but a lack of an inside presence has them last in both rebounding margin (-3.3) and blocked shots (1.8 bpg). Irvin is now the active scoring leader with 13.5 ppg, and Derrick Walton, Jr. is the only other player in double figures with his 10.7 ppg.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball