The disappointment was evident on Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann’s face after his team dropped a 92-87 home decision to Juwan Howard and Michigan, but he didn’t question his team’s effort. In a game that more than lived up to its No. 3 vs. No. 4 billing, the Buckeyes made a few less plays down the stretch and U-M stepped up to capture a huge conference victory.
The pace was frenetic, bodies were flying and both rivals left it all on the floor.
“Hard fought game,” Holtmann said. “I thought both teams competed. Both teams were really good offensively, really made shots.
“I think you’ve got to give them credit. They were able to get enough stops there when we were turned it over, had a couple offensive rebounds in a key sequence, and I think ultimately that was the difference. But give them credit. I think they deserve credit for winning the game, and we’ll give them that and try to figure out how to improve and move forward.”
Both teams made contested shots all over the floor, especially in the first half, and Michigan native and guard Duane Washington tried to play Wolverine killer yet again with 30 points. It’s personal for him, and he plays like it.
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U-M cooled in the second half, making only one of 10 triples, but the work on the glass and through freshman big man Hunter Dickinson (22 points) helped get Michigan to 92 on a day in which the Wolverines brought their ‘B’ game defensively.
“He’s a really good player. I thought his length and size at the end of the day bothered us, so we’ll have to figure out how to do a better job of that in certain situations,” Holtmann said of Dickinson.
But he refused to give him the nod over Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn and Iowa’s Luka Garza.
“They’re all a problem, just to be honest. Some of the best bigs in the country,” Holtmann said. “He played well, but Kofi is a nightmare matchup, so is Luka. Collectively, we’ve got to find ways to defend those guys better individually and collectively.
“I think the shooting around him makes the passing and shooting better … it’s an older team you can tell has played together and won, obviously. Some guys that have played together and won at a really high level, given what that program has done in the last five to eight years.”
He sees it in Isaiah Livers (12 points, four assists), he said, and guard Eli Brooks (17 points, 3-of-4 triples) helped set the tone with two three-pointers after OSU jumped to a 4-0 lead.
But upperclassmen Chaundee Brown and Mike Smith weren’t here even last year, and they were every bit as important. Brown hit a trio of triples in the first half to help match the Buckeyes’ offense, finishing with 15 points, and both came up huge in their first taste of the rivalry game.
“They’ve got a good shooting team. Some guys’ numbers were better in the first half [than usual],” Holtmann noted. “They were making shots at a higher clip than maybe their percentages have shown. Some of it was a byproduct of us being in scramble situations worrying about the big fella too much, and some of it was they made tough shots.
“For them to make 10 threes and for it to be a two-point game obviously meant we were scoring it, as well. It was able to level out a little bit going one of 10 in the second half … but they made some hard ones, and some of it was our poor coverage.”
They also missed more wide open looks in the second half than they got in the first, he admitted, but that’s basketball. In the Big Ten, it’s about finding ways to overcome when shots aren’t dropping, and U-M was better when it mattered down the stretch.
Holtmann made it clear, as any good coach would, that there are no moral victories in rivalry contests. He said it was hard to consider it an “instant classic” like most would given his team lost.
“I think in terms of a measuring stick, I do think they’re good and deserving of everything that comes their way,” he said. “I think we’re a good team, as well. No question we’re a good team …
“We had a great spirit about us. It’s disappointing. That’s the overall sentiment. We’ll figure out as coaches how we can do better to move forward.”
But the Wolverines all but iced his team's shot at a regular season title in the only match-up between the two, and that only adds to the sting.
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