The rivalry on the gridiron comes onto the basketball court this Saturday. Can Ohio State rebound off a surprising loss against Michigan?
TV schedule: Saturday, November 18, 1:00 p.m. ET. CBS
Arena: Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan
There seems to be four sure bets to get into the NCAA tournament from the Big Ten. Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and also Michigan 21-7 (10-5). The Wolverines have been ranked for the last month, and have won four out of the last five games.
The latest came in a 74-59 win over Iowa. Duncan Robinson and Muhammad Abdur-Rakman each had 18 points to the lead the team, and Moritz Wagner chipped in with 14. These have been the kind of balanced box scores that have taken this Wolverines squad to the next level, with a defense already good for a second weekend team. Now the goal is to get better seeding for March Madness, which will occur with a win over the Buckeyes.
Ohio State 22-6 (13-2) has had a tremendous season, but did suffer a setback on Thursday to Penn State, 79-56. Keita Bates-Diop had a pedestrian game by his lofty standards, with 10 points and five rebounds. C.J. Jackson had 13 to lead the team, but no other player had more than seven points on the night.
The loss dropped the Buckeyes into a tie for first place in the conference with Michigan State, with Chris Holtmann’s team holding the tiebreaker. The last two games of the regular season comes against Rutgers and Indiana, a couple of lower end teams in the Big Ten.
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For the Wolverines, this is the last home game for the team, hence senior night. It’ll be the last time for the team’s three seniors, Robinson, Rahkman and Jaaron Simmons, a graduate transfer from Ohio University. This is the last game in front of their home crowd, and they’ll look to have one last great performance in front of the Michigan faithful. Look for that emotion to pull them ahead in this tight game.
Prediction: Ohio State 76 – Michigan 80