Ohio State upsets Michigan with Points in the Paint

In what is the third away-from-home victory against a ranked team this season, the Ohio State Buckeyes were able to score in the paint consistently against the Michigan Wolverines in a 65-58 road victory. The Buckeyes came out strong and finished well in a ruckus Crisler Arena Saturday night.

By Steve Patterson

Buckeyes Go Up Early

An early run put the Buckeyes up be 9 points in the first 10 minutes of play with an early boost from Evan Turner who finished with a team high 19 points in 39 minutes. His drives to the bucket, dishes to BJ Mullens down low, and pull up mid range shooting was to difficult to guard for the young Wolverines. Michigan was able to pull in close before the half as Ohio State was only up by 4 with 20 minutes left to play. The Wolverines shot terrible from the field in the first half and did not improve much in the second half, finishing the game with 36% shooting from the field. Manny Harris was the bright spot for Michigan scoring 21 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.

Second Period Tighter

The second period was a close match with Ohio State in foul trouble for most of the period. Starting point guard Jeremie Simmons sat out for large stretches of the game and was substituted in and out at the end for offense with backup PJ Hill coming in for defense. Turner also had 3 personal fouls at the end put was able to stay in the game.

Buford and Turner Lead the Way

Ohio State pulled ahead in the final 8 minutes with William Buford stepping up his game and joining Turner with regular drives to the bucket and great mid-range jumpers. Buford finished with 15 points on the night. With 2 minutes left, the Buckeyes were up by 9 points but the Wolverines did not let up, pulling to within 4 points, until the finals 20 seconds when free throws by Turner put the game safely out of reach.

Other players seeing action included Dallas Lauderdale, Jon Diebler, and Kyle Madsen.Diebler was very quite on the night only shooting four shots and making just one three pointer. He had 3 rebounds and 3 assists also.