ANN ARBOR — If the Ohio State and Michigan football programs wage the greatest feud in sports — and they do — their hardwood cousins are like Dan and Dave.
Friendly enemies most of us remember exist every four years or so.
Is Ohio State-Michigan basketball a real rivalry? Is a hot dog a sandwich? No one is sure.
The Wolverines’ arch nemesis, of course, is Michigan State. Ohio State’s is ... Indiana? (My vote for the way Bobby Knight tormented his alma mater for three decades.) Or is it the team in green (Spartans) or blue (Wolverines)? Or some aqua combination? Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann recently suggested a reporter conduct a Twitter poll.
Just the same, Sunday at a sold-out Crisler Center reminded us how much fun it is when these lost-in-winter-translation antagonists are both relevant.
No. 22 Michigan’s 74-62 victory against the eighth-ranked Buckeyes had all the trappings of hoops discord. A crowd that — according to the on-court decibel meter — put a chainsaw to shame. (”Incredible environment,” Holtmann said.) A bloodlusting, soap-mouthed student section that brayed, “(Expletive) Ohio!” A roaring heel turn. (Fans loudly jeered Wolverine-turned-Buckeye grad transfer Andrew Dakich every time he touched the ball). And, for one of the few times since Ohio State and Michigan first exchanged pleasantries in 1909, major stakes.
“That felt like a big-time rivalry game,” said Zavier Simpson, the sophomore guard from Lima.
There you have it.
It felt big because it was big, an unexpected February treat.
Neither team began the season with high expectations, Michigan was picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten, Ohio State 11th. Which was fitting enough, because, historically — and here’s the biggest reason this is not a brand-name dispute — rarely have these programs simultaneously been good. For all of their memorable meetings — Michigan’s overtime win in the 1992 Elite Eight, Evan Turner’s buzzer-beater in the 2010 Big Ten tournament, the showdowns in 2013 — they had met as ranked teams only 13 times in the Associated Press poll era.
But here they were, two teams passing in the afternoon.
OK, not quite. It just felt that way.
Michigan (22-7, 11-5) probably clinched its NCAA tourney ticket with a second signature victory — to go along with its beatdown of second-ranked Michigan State — and third consecutive win overall. We’ll have plenty on John Beilein’s group in the coming weeks. The man is a March wizard.
The bigger story for the moment is what to make of Ohio State.
Are the Buckeyes (22-7, 13-3) — also known as Keita and the Miracles — turning into a pumpkin after a charmed start to the Big Ten season?
We’re not buying that, but consecutive road defeats to Penn State and Michigan have yielded the blueprint to beat them: Pressure the point and give Keita Bates-Diop less space than a confessional.
C.J. Jackson and Dakich — the ball-handlers who largely have evolved from big questions to answers — felt the squeeze all day, finishing with two points, four turnovers, and zero assists. So did Bates-Diop, the league player-of-the-year frontrunner who once more crashed back to the hardwood, following a 4-of-11 night at Penn State with a 5-of-17, four-turnover showing.
If Bates-Diop does not better assert himself, the now-second-place Buckeyes have no chance in March.
“He’s obviously been a focal point of the scouting reports since midway through the Big Ten season,” Holtmann said. “Teams are being really physical. They’re eating up his space and crawling up into him. They’re putting hands on him on drives, bodying him up. If that’s the way the game is going to be allowed to be played, and clearly it is, he’s got to do a better job of adjusting to that and playing through his physicality. But I’m not worried about him. I’m sure he’ll respond the right way.”
Here’s guessing this house-money Ohio State team will, too.
“Golly,” Holtmann said, “if this beats us down, shame on us.”
It’s a long winter. The rivalry scene here just made it feel shorter.
Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.
First Published February 18, 2018, 10:53 p.m.
