Article published February 06, 2008
Buckeyes defense puts clamps on UM
Hunter scores 15, Diebler 14 for Ohio State
Ohio State's David Lighty, right, fights for a rebound with Michigan's Jevohn Sheperd during the first half in Columbus. Lighty finished with 12 points for the Buckeyes (16-7, 7-3 Big Ten).
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COLUMBUS - Ohio State coach Thad Matta installed a new defense, and it worked.
Despite allowing nine 3-pointers, five in the second half, the Buckeyes blanked Michigan over the final 4 1/2 minutes for a 65-55 comeback win last night.
Ohio State (16-7, 7-3 Big Ten) worked more of a half-court, trap zone in the latter part of the game.
"Coach put in a new defense today and when he put his fist up we had good stops," Ohio State guard David Lighty said. "Pretty much every time he put his fist up, we got a stop."
Matta was coy about the new zone scheme and didn't talk too much about it, saying the Buckeyes have nine games left in the regular season.
| OHIO ST. 65, MICHIGAN 55 |
MICHIGAN (5-17): Udoh 3-4 0-0 7, Coleman 1-8 0-0 3, Sims 2-7 2-2 6, Harris 3-7 0-0 7, Grady 4-7 0-0 11, Lee 1-1 1-1 3, Merritt 0-2 0-0 0, Wright 2-5 3-4 8, Shepherd 2-4 0-0 6, Gibson 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 20-50 6-7 55.
OHIO ST. (16-7): Hunter 7-11 1-2 15, Koufos 4-13 2-3 12, Butler 4-12 0-0 10, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Lighty 5-6 1-3 12, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Diebler 3-6 6-6 14, Terwilliger 1-3 0-1 2, Lauderdale 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 10-15 65.
Halftime-Michigan 32-31. 3-Point Goals-Michigan 9-26 (Grady 3-6, Shepherd 2-4, Udoh 1-1, Wright 1-3, Harris 1-4, Coleman 1-6, Sims 0-2), Ohio St. 7-16 (Diebler 2-3, Butler 2-5, Koufos 2-5, Lighty 1-1, Terwilliger 0-1, Hunter 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Michigan 24 (Udoh 5), Ohio St. 34 (Hunter 12). Assists-Michigan 12 (Wright 4), Ohio St. 14 (Butler 9). Total Fouls-Michigan 12, Ohio St. 9. A-19,049. |
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Othello Hunter scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Ohio State rally for the win.With the Buckeyes clinging to a 56-55 lead, Jamar Butler hit a 3-pointer and followed with a layup to give Ohio State a six-point lead with 1:20 remaining. Jon Diebler made a pair of free throws, and Lighty added a dunk to cap the comeback and send Michigan (5-17, 1-9) to its sixth-straight loss.
Michigan missed its final six shots, three from beyond the arc, and committed one turnover during the scoreless stretch.
"I feel bad for our kids but we hung in to the end," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "Ohio State has worked hard on their defense all year and they played a very unique zone. They work on not letting guys penetrate and they do it very well."
Diebler came off the bench to score 14, nine in the second half. Lighty and Kosta Koufos each scored 12, and Butler added 10 with nine assists.
Kelvin Grady had 11 points for the Wolverines.
Michigan hit four 3-pointers in the first nine minutes of the second half to stay in front but could not shake the Buckeyes, who twice had possessions to tie or take the lead but still were down 52-50 with less than eight minutes to play.
"They were just hitting their shots," Diebler said. "We were contesting them and we were playing defense but they just were hitting shots."
Ohio State's defense keyed the run that put them ahead.
The Buckeyes forced their second shot-clock violation of the second half and got the tying basket on a jumper by Diebler, making it 52-52 with 7:09 left.
Lighty then made a steal and passed ahead to Butler, who fed Diebler under the basket. Diebler, who was fouled by Ekpe Udoh, made both free throws for the Buckeyes' first lead since the opening seconds of the half.
The first half had five ties and four lead changes. Diebler missed a short shot in the lane at the buzzer, allowing Michigan to hold on to a 32-31 lead at the break.
Michigan got 18 points off the bench in the first half, led by Anthony Wright's eight.
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