Instant Recap: Michigan 76, Ohio State 74 OT

Michigan jumped out to an early, 18-8 lead against Ohio State on the strength of some hot shooting and solid defense, but the Buckeyes weathered the storm in front of a hostile Crisler Center crowd. They knocked down 50 percent of their shots (three of seven from long range) and took a 31-30 lead into the half, but U-M came from behind in the second half to pull out a 76-74 overtime win.

OSU point guard Aaron Craft once again did a solid job checking Michigan sophomore point guard Trey Burke, holding him to five points and two assists on 2-for-6 shooting in the half.

U-M built its lead on triples, including two from freshman Nik Stauskas and one each from Burke and Glenn Robinson III. Freshman big man Mitch McGary, too, was a force, scoring 10 points on an array of putbacks and strong finishes, adding five rebounds.

OSU, though, got balanced scoring to mount runs of seven and five points, the latter to end the half. Deshaun Thomas and LaQuinton Ross each scored seven while Craft notched four points and six rebounds to help the Buckeyes keep pace.

The Wolverines shot 44.4 percent from the floor in the first half and notched only five assists to five turnovers. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Stauskas each scored six in the stanza.

Second Half

Craft came off a pick to hit a free throw line jumper with Burke chasing him, and a Thomas offensive rebound, half hook finish and free throw pushed the Ohio State lead to a game high four at 17:30.

Burke hit a three at the other end to cut it back to one before Craft lofted a prayer from 30 feet with one second left on the shot clock (though the clock actually read 0:00) to push it back to four.

A Sam Thompson jumper pushed it to six at the 15:00 mark, and the Wolverines continued to look out of sync offensively. The Bucks went up seven on two free throws by Thomas following a phantom foul call on Burke.

Lenzelle Smith Jr. made it eight at the 12:55 mark before Robinson finished and one to cut it back to five.

Then Hardaway Jr. went nuts. He hit four straight triples to help Michigan take the lead. U-M couldn't keep the momentum, however. The Buckeyes scored four straight to regain the lead at the 9:05 mark. OSU went on yet another run, 6-0, to regain control at 60-55.

McGary stopped the bleeding with a putback. Hardaway hit yet another triple, but Ohio State sandwiched dunks around it against shoddy Michigan defense to stay a step ahead.

A steal by Robinson and finish by Burke, followed by a triple by Stauskas in transition, finally gave U-M a 65-64 lead at 3:13, setting up a frenetic finish.

Ohio State continued to work the offensive glass for points. Burke's triple at 2:38 should have been a dagger, putting Michigan up by three. Stauskas, though, turned it over on an outlet pass on the following possession, and Thomas tied it with a triple.

The teams traded points down the stretch, OSU getting nearly all of theirs on second chances, and it went to overtime at 72-all when Burke missed a stepback triple at the buzzer rather than attacking Thomas.

Overtime

Burke started the scoring with a triple with his hand in his face at the shot clock buzzer. U-M had chances to pull away but Hardaway went cold, missing two triples, and the Wolverines missed several opportunities to extend the lead.

McGary missed a lay-up with Michigan up three and a minute left, and after Craft drove and scored on Burke, he stripped Burke at the other end to give the Buckeyes the ball down 75-74 with 20.1 seconds left.

Burke blocked a Craft jumper and Craft fouled Robinson with 7.6 seconds remaining. Robinson made one of two free throws, and Hardaway blocked Craft's lay-up at the buzzer to preserve the win.

Hardaway led U-M with 23 points, Burke notched 16 and eight rebounds, McGary 14, Stauskas 11 and Robinson 10.