Michigan Wolverines basketball's comeback attempt fell short against Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, with the squad losing 68-67 to its arch rival. The Buckeyes have now advanced to the championship game and await the winner of Illinois-Iowa, while the Maize and Blue will stay in Indianapolis and await their NCAA Tournament draw.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
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1. Player of the game: Duane Washington Jr.
OSU junior guard Duane Washington Jr. continues to be a Michigan killer.
After dropping 30 in the first meeting between the two programs, Washington scored 24 points and added six rebounds and four assists in this one. He's averaged 22.3 points per game against the Wolverines the last four times the Grand Rapids, Mich., native has faced them.
"It is different for him," Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann said after the game on how important and personal this matchup is for Washington.
2. Michigan's three-point shooting defense — and offense — needed to be much better
While Michigan senior guard Eli Brooks is a very good defender, he — and fifth-year senior Mike Smith — do struggle to guard bigger backcourt opposition (Washington is 6-3, 210). Washington was physical while driving, but was actually a bit off finishing at the rim (4-of-10 from two-point range). Even so, his ability to get by Michigan's guards freed himself up some space to work with on the outside — and he made the Wolverines pay to the tune of five threes on 10 attempts from deep.
We wrote in the lead-up to the game that Michigan vs. Ohio State is a matchup of mismatches, and that proved to be the case. Washington exposed the Wolverines' backcourt, and sophomore forward E.J. Liddell was knockdown from long range (3-of-4) against Michigan's front-court that has trouble guarding on the perimeter.
Head coach Juwan Howard tried to go with zone — something he used on 50 percent of the team's possessions in the quarterfinals against Maryland — but only did so on four sets in this one after it was clearly not going to get the job done. The close-outs were late at times, and the on-ball defense wasn't tight enough.
All told, OSU shot 12-of-22 from long range (55 percent). Michigan, on the other hand, made only six of its 19 attempts from beyond the arc, 31.6 percent. The Wolverines had plenty of open looks but just didn't knock many of them down.
