JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Editor

With Dickinson ill, 

Michigan mounts come-
back to shock Ohio State

C

OLUMBUS — sometimes, 
it’s not how you start. 

The 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball team walked into the 
locker room at halftime down by 
seven, a lifeless offensive performance 
making its chances to win the game — 
and make the NCAA Tournament — 
look bleak.

But in the second half, the 

Wolverines surged. The offense found 
its footing, and combined with a 
stellar defensive effort, they garnered 
the sort of performance they needed 
to stun the Buckeyes on their home 
court.

Michigan (17-13 overall, 11-9 

Big Ten) took down No. 23 Ohio 
State (19-10, 12-8), 75-69, in its 
regular season finale, securing a 
huge resumé boost with Selection 
Sunday only a week away. 

“I’m just in awe of the players’ 

character,” acting head coach Phil 
Martelli said. “I’m in awe of the 
support staff’s knowledge.”

There was plenty for Martelli to 

marvel at, especially considering 
the blow the Wolverines were 
dealt before the game even began. 
Just hours before tip, they learned 
that sophomore center Hunter 
Dickinson had been ruled out 
with a stomach ailment. Without 
Dickinson, Michigan knew it 
would be 
nearly impossible 

to make 
up the offensive 
production of its 
premier player. 

Instead, 
it 

turned 
to 
its 

defense 
to 
slow 

down the Buckeyes.
“I 
believe 
that 

when we play as a 

team, no matter who’s missing, 
we’re definitely going to give a 
challenge to any team that we 
play,” freshman forward Moussa 
Diabate said. “We obviously need 
him, but we did what we needed 
to do and it worked out.”

For much of the first half, 

that 
gameplan 
worked. 
The 

Wolverines 
frustrated 
Ohio 

State, generating six steals and 
eight 
offensive 
rebounds 
to 

secure 
extra 
possessions 
for 

an undermanned offense. But 
Michigan couldn’t cash in on 
those extra possessions, as it shot 
a measly 13-for-37 in the first half.

The defense fought tooth and 

nail to keep the game within 
reach, but late in the first half 
cracks 
began 
to 
show. 
The 

Buckeyes finished the final three 
minutes on an 8-2 run, giving the 
Wolverines a 37-30 deficit at the 
break.

A maligned offense now had to 

pull itself out of an even greater 
hole. 

“I was worried,” Martelli said. 

“Because there had been a little 
bit too much engagement with the 
referees. Like we could have come 
off the court whining about zero 
foul shots and that kind of thing.”

But coming out in the second 

half, no one panicked. And the 
shots at last began to fall.

Michigan shored up its interior 

presence 
while 
also 
playing 

aggressive on offense to tie the 
game at 39 coming out of the 
break. Back-to-back triples from 
graduate guard DeVante’ Jones 
shortly after helped Michigan 
surge 
ahead, 
proving 
the 

Wolverines would not go away 
quietly. 

Instead, 
quietness 
hung 

throughout a shell-shocked Value 

City Arena. Michigan continued 
to apply the pressure to Ohio 
State, raining down threes to take 
a 58-49 lead into the under-eight 
timeout. A win that had seemed 
unattainable 
at 
the 
halftime 

buzzer was suddenly very much 
within reach.

“I think the biggest thing in 

the locker room was coming out 
with energy,” sophomore forward 
Terrance Williams II said. “…I 
feel like that was the biggest part 
— and that we stayed together 
throughout Ohio State’s run in 
the end of the first half.”

The Buckeyes, though, kept 

fighting — and the lead at once 
shrunk. They cut a double-
digit margin to six, and as the 
clock ticked under four minutes 
remaining, 
the 
Wolverines’ 

chance to complete the comeback 
was teetering in the balance. 

But the resilience Michigan 

displayed throughout the second 
half continued to shine through.

An emphatic block by Diabate 

with two-and-a-half minutes to 
play maintained a two-possession 
lead for the Wolverines. A clutch 
three from freshman guard Kobe 
Bufkin moments later served as 
the dagger. 

“(Bufkin) raised up like the ball 

was going in,” Martelli said. “And 
not just Kobe, but too many times 
this year, we’ve had guys raise 
up and they hope it’s going in. If 
you’re hoping that a ball is going 
in, don’t shoot it.”

Despite missing its best player, 

despite an ugly first half, despite 
the fact a loss would’ve sunk its 
tournament chances, Michigan 
found a way to win. 

For once in this tumultuous 

season, when the Wolverines 
needed to do so, they finished.

SPORTS
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY

PUKE &
RALLY

Gabby Ceritano/Daily | Design by Lys Goldman

