2021-22 ohio state #2

We're probably just going to call it the Devante' Jones Game. With the deck stacked against them, and their star center missing the game, the Wolverines played through Jones, off Jones and like Jones, winning on opportunistic turnovers, drives into the lane through contact, and clever assists. Together Jones and his teammates delivered a tournament-worthy performance, helped ruin EJ Liddell's senior night, and probably punched Michigan's ticket back to the Dance.

Going in, it looked like it was going to be the Nobody Has Bigs Game. Ohio State went through the week with a couple of forwards questionable to play, but when the lineups were announced it was Michigan's crucial big man missing, as Hunter Dickinson was not available due to a stomach ailment. OSU's Kyle Young was also out with an illness, and Zed Key, a game-time decision with an ankle injury, got the start but re-rolled it in the 1st half and hopped off the court. Michigan rolled with Brandon Johns and Moussa Diabate in the frontcourt, until Diabate had to sit for 9 minutes after picking up a third foul nearly as tickytack as his first two. OSU went with Joey Brunk and had senior star EJ Liddell reprise his sophomore center role when they went small.

That led to some weird lineups featuring lots of Johns, Terrance Williams II, and Jaron Faulds, all of which Michigan survived thanks to the steady play of Jones, to whom fell Dickinson's usual role of generating most of the offense. The senior point guard responded with 21 points (on 16 shots) and 9 assists, and created more turnovers (four) than he gave up (two).

It also led to some weird frontcourt matchups. Key was replaced by Joey Brunk, whose game usually matches his name. While the lug couldn't get to the rim, his jump hook was consistently finding its way back into the net off the other side of the rim. Late in the first frame OSU rode an 8-0 run to a 9-point lead as Terrance Williams lost Brunk on a cut for a slam. Williams got those two back on jumper at the buzzer but the Buckeyes took a 7-point lead into halftime.

Two quick fouls out of halftime put Moussa on the bench and had Michigan fans thinking this was going to turn into the No Bigs Game after all. But Caleb Houstan and Eli Brooks went to work on defense to deny rising star Malaki Branham opportunities, forcing the ball to lesser ballhandlers they could pick. Brooks and Jones canned their threes, and Jones began to get comfortable breaking down OSU's defense in the paint.

And for his part, Faulds played brilliantly, contributing to one of the turnover-runout sequences, and drawing plenty of attention on the block to open up his teammates. At one point Michigan even sent the ball back into the post for him, which led to a second kickout to a wide open attempt from Houstan.

Unfortunately it was also one of those Houstan Can't Hit Anything games--he was 0/3 from three and 0/10 overall--but he played well enough on defense, and generated enough putbacks on his misses, that Michigan only kinda-sorta missed his offense. It helped that Williams was covering for him, scoring 17 and hitting 3/4 from the arc.

The Devante Jones and No Bigs and Caleb is Off and Remember When They Reposted with Faulds? Game is going to overshadow an excellent performance from Moussa Diabate, who held EJ Liddell to just 4/10 from the floor, and contributed 4 offensive rebounds on the other end. The freshman Frenchman's impact was never more evident than when Diabate blocked a point blank shot by Joey Brunk to preserve a 64-59 lead with 2-1/2 minutes remaining. On the subsequent drive Jones drove through contact by Liddell for a layup then went hard to the floor. The officials let that one go, like they did every other Liddell foul in this game, and Ohio State promptly ran the floor and drained a Justin Ahrens three. Jones writhed on the baseline for another minute, but returned at the next stoppage to help Michigan finish the job.

If anything else could define that job, it was the extra possessions. Out of Ohio State's 13 turnovers, at least 11 of them were created by Wolverine help defenders picking their pockets. OSU was shooting well over 50% from the field most of the game, and in the 2nd half started picking up whistles even before players made contact. Michigan took care of the ball, turning it over just six times and rebounded 13 of their 30 misses versus seven Buckeye OREBs. Winning the turnover/offensive rebounding battle generated 13 extra tries for the visitors, and the final margin.

What the Devante' Jones No Hunter They Reposted With Faulds Diabate Exacts Vengeance on Liddell Extra Possessions Game could have been remembered for was probably the most lopsidedly officiated game of the college basketball season. Bo Boroski's crew swallowed their whistles for the first 15 minutes except to award Liddell an and-one after he shoved Johns then ran over a set Williams, then a ticky-tack call on Zed Key on the other end. Diabate picked up a cheap one near the end of the half then sat with two more questionable calls, including one where Key just plowed him over while fighting for position.

As Michigan began to pull away late, almost Buckeye drive, and for a five-minute stretch literally every attempt by Liddell, was bailed out with a bad whistle. Ohio State hit the double-bonus right after the under 8 timeout, but had to foul Michigan three times in the final minute to send the visitors to the line. Ironically, the heavy disparity in fouls gave the visitors a chance to whittle the clock under 30 seconds before they had to shoot rather than dribble.

It might have been fitting, thematically, had the 2021-'22 run ended with a No Hunter, Houstan Can't Hit the Broad Side of a Barn Refs Game. Instead, the selection committee is going to see Michigan finished its regular season with a win when everything was going against them. They'll face Indiana(?) in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, and could improve their seeding depending on how far they go from there. But you have to think, with this win, they're in.

No Hunter, no calls, on the road versus a room full of rivals with the tournament on the line: No sweat.

And you can’t have one without the other.

Okay, some sweat.

THE ESSENTIALS

THE OVERVIEW

Sometimes you eat the 58% three-point shooting and sometimes the 58% three-point shooting eats you, I guess. Michigan's home loss to Iowa puts them on the bubbliest of bubble seats, which I guess is appropriate when you can neither win nor lose more than one game in a row for a solid month.

Michigan's destiny has flipped to W, and boy howdy are they going to need it. A loss at OSU likely demands a three-or-four game run at the Big Ten tournament to make the field. Get another quad 1 win and get to 11-9 in conference play, and you're feeling pretty good. Michigan's tournament starts Sunday.

THE US

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THE LINEUP CARD

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Zed Key and Kyle Young both missed the Michigan State game, leaving Joey Brunk to pick up 33 minutes (and go 7/10 from two!). Key rolled his ankle against Maryland and has been in a walking boot; Young left the Nebraska game after eight minutes with an illness. Seems like Young is more likely to be available than Key.

We gave Branham a star.