Michigan tops 
Ohio State, 77-69, 
for back-to-back 
wins

ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Editor

SPORTS
WEDNESDAY

S

prawled on the floor underneath the 
basket, sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin 
should’ve been out of the offensive 
possession. After his jumper in the lane 
bounced around the rim and ultimately fell to 
the floor, Bufkin too fell to the ground looking 
for a foul call.
But in the absence of a whistle, Bufkin jumped 
up, grabbed his own rebound off a bounce, and 
tossed it back up for a put-back layup. 
That moment was emblematic of Bufkin’s 
whole performance. Looking for back-to-back 
wins for the first time since early January, the 
Michigan men’s basketball team (13-11 overall, 
7-5 Big Ten) dominated Ohio State (11-12, 3-9), 
77-69, on the shoulders of Bufkin’s effort. 
Despite being the Wolverines’ third-highest 
scorer behind junior center Hunter Dickinson 
and freshman wing Jett Howard, Bufkin’s 13 
points, eight rebounds and five assists was the 
difference maker in Sunday afternoon’s tilt. 
Showcasing all the intangibles, communicating 
on defense and facilitating game play, Bufkin 
was irreplaceable against the Buckeyes.
“(The win) means a lot, it means that we’re on 
the right track hopefully,” Howard said. “That 
was a really good team. So we just had to come 
out early to bring that energy.”
From the tipoff, the Wolverines controlled 
all facets of the game. Draining back-to-back 
3-pointers on the first two offensive possessions 
— one off an assist from Bufkin and one from 
his own hand. Michigan capitalized on its deep 
shooting to sustain early offensive momentum. 
The Wolverines scored from all three levels 
by finding their consistent scorers — Bufkin, 
Howard and Dickinson. Michigan quickly 
gained an early lead that it didn’t relinquish.
On the defensive end, in large part due 
to a major contribution from Bufkin, the 
Wolverines prevailed against the third-ranked 
offense in the country by capitalizing on their 
defensive advantages. Bufkin proved the most 
advantageous, contesting shots on the wing and 
playing elite pick-and-roll defense, keeping Ohio 
State from easy buckets.
“Kobe is huge to our team’s success,” Michigan 
coach Juwan Howard said. “We’re going to need 
him and there are going to be times when we go 
through him. But offensively he’s a guy that has 
really embraced becoming a two-way player.”
Even when the Buckeyes strung together a run 
after the under-8 timeout — cutting Michigan’s 
once 10-point lead to just three — the Wolverines 
found a way to keep it together, something they 
haven’t been able to do in the past. On the back 
of a made layup from Bufkin, Michigan kept 
hold of its lead. Fending off Ohio State for the 
remainder of the half, the Wolverines entered 
the locker room up 41-36.
And the Wolverines’ strong narrative only 
continued out of the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Buckeyes once 
again tried to claw their way back into the 
game. But Bufkin helped silence that hope with 
a clutch 3-pointer, stemming the bleeding from 
Ohio State’s quick offensive barrage and once 
again putting the game just out of reach.
“(Bufkin’s) just someone you love competing 
with,” graduate guard Joey Baker said. “He’s 
gonna give it everything he’s got and works 
his butt off and he’s a really good player. We’re 
happy to have him on our team and I think he’s 
just going to continue to get better and better.”
After a single-handed offensive run from 

Dickinson, the Wolverines built their lead back 
up to seven points midway through the half. The 
small lead, boosted by defensive stops, was the 
final nail in the coffin for the Buckeyes down the 
stretch. Continuing to go with what it knows, 
Michigan dug deep on defense and utilized its 
trio of scorers — Dickinson, Bufkin and Jett — to 
maintain that small lead.
Continuing their prowess on the defensive 
end throughout the remainder of the half, the 
Wolverines held Ohio State to 69 points — 
under the Buckeyes’ average of 76 points per 
game. Locking down the paint and contesting 
every shot from behind the arc, Michigan made 
scoring increasingly difficult.
And as the clock ticked down on Sunday 
afternoon, the Wolverines — riding the high of 
Bufkin’s stellar performance and back-to-back 
wins for the first time since early January — 
headed to the locker room. 
This time, to celebrate.

JULIANNE YOON & LILA TURNER/Daily

LYS GOLDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

RIVALED

E

AST LANSING — Until Sunday, the No. 
18 Michigan women’s basketball team 
had never won a game in which it trailed 
at halftime.
Despite heading into the locker room down 
40-33 against in-state rival Michigan State, the 
Wolverines rewrote that narrative and completed 
their first season series with a sweep. Coming 
from behind in the second half, Michigan (19-5 
overall, 9-4 Big Ten) ultimately overpowered 
Michigan State (11-12, 3-9) en route to a statement 
77-67 victory.
“(Fifth-year wing) Leigha (Brown) says her 
heart is still racing because of the intensity at 
which (the Spartans) started the game,” Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “They came out just 
on fire and intense and playing hard. And it took 
us a minute, but thankfully we were able to adjust 
and finish really strong.”
That intensity was evident as Michigan State 
jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead. Only after 
junior forward Cameron Williams notched a 
put-back layup in the fourth minute of play did 
the Wolverines get on the board. From there, the 
game was a battle of intensity and aggressiveness 
from both sides — a display that lived up to the 
rivalry hype.
However, in the second half and especially 
the final quarter, Michigan found its footing 
on both ends of the floor while the Spartans 
struggled to keep pace and sustain their first-half 
performance.
“We really emphasized defense (at halftime),” 
Brown said. “We weren’t really following our 
principles a lot in the first half. … Just really 
locking in and trying to get the people that we 
wanted to take shots, especially the threes, I 
think definitely helped our success.”
As the Wolverines tightened up on the 
defensive end, they simultaneously found their 
offensive stride.
Key to that offensive success was the 
Wolverines’ neutralization of Michigan State’s 
aggressive full court press after the Spartans 
successfully trapped players, intercepted passes 
and deflected loose balls throughout the first half.
“We didn’t get stops early and that allowed 
them to get full court pressure,” Barnes Arico 
said. “Once we got some stops, they weren’t able 
to do that as much and we settled down a little bit, 
but they got up in us and were super physical and 
super aggressive.”
The Spartans looked like the more aggressive 
team throughout the first quarter and parts of the 
second, feeding off the energy in a packed Breslin 
Center. As the game wore on into the second half, 
however, the Wolverines made adjustments that 
allowed them to take control when it mattered 
most.

Those adjustments were facilitated by the 
usual suspects — Brown and senior guard Maddie 
Nolan. The duo led the charge for the Wolverines 
on offense. Brown finished with a double-double, 
notching 29 points and 12 rebounds along with 
eight assists — all team-highs. She served as a 
complete leader, facilitator and scorer on the floor 
throughout the matchup.
Nolan knocked down five of the team’s seven 
total 3-pointers, many of them coming in crucial 
moments. Her shots helped keep Michigan within 
striking distance in the first half and contributed 
to extending the comeback lead in the second.
“When (Nolan is) hitting shots like that, it’s 
really really hard to guard us,” Brown said. “She 
was shooting with a lot of confidence today.”
Graduate forward Emily Kiser also contributed 
to the Wolverines’ turnaround performance after 
the halftime break. Despite being held scoreless 
in the first half, she finished the game with eight 
points, increasing her involvement in the second 
half and allowing the Wolverines to effectively 
open up the floor.
“We couldn’t really establish Emily in the first 
half because she was guarded by a guard,” Barnes 
Arico said. “She was getting double teamed on the 
other side, so the players were able to make some 
adjustments and really get Emily going a little bit 
more (in the second half).”
Although Michigan eventually pulled away in 
the fourth quarter, the game was still up for grabs 
heading into the final 10 minutes and neither 
team’s intensity let up until the final buzzer. 
The Spartans refused to go down easy, but 
Michigan’s momentum proved too much to keep 
up with down the stretch. The Wolverines looked 
firmly in control throughout the final quarter, 
holding Michigan State scoreless for over five 
minutes towards the end of the game.
In the process, Michigan flipped the script and 
achieved its first comeback victory of the season 
in sweeping fashion.

UN

Michigan beats 
Michigan State, 
77-67, completes 
series sweep

Michigan flipped the script 
and achieved its first 
comeback victory of the 
season in sweeping fashion.

MICHIGAN 77 | OSU 69
MICHIGAN 77 | MSU 67

Design by Lys Goldman

Showcasing all the 
intangibles, communicating 
on defense and facilitating 
game play, Bufkin was 
irreplaceable against the 
Buckeyes.

