Ohio State vs. Michigan: Live In-Game Updates
The Ohio State Buckeyes (11-11, 3-8 Big Ten) enter Sunday's meeting in Ann Arbor with the rival Michigan Wolverines (12-10, 6-5 Big Ten) looking to gain some momentum.
The Buckeyes find themselves on an abysmal skid in which they've lost eight of their last nine games.
This is the first time since 2003-04 that the Buckeyes have had a record of .500 or below in the month of February. That just so happened to also be Jim O'Brien's final season at the helm.
Ohio State narrowly fell to the Wisconsin Badgers on Thursday, 65-60. Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann got ejected in the first half, and his team nearly pulled off an 18-point comeback. But instead, Ohio State fell into third-to-last place in the conference.
The Wolverines are coming off a much-needed 68-51 win against Northwestern, as they had lost five of their previous seven prior to Thursday's victory.
Crucial to Michigan's success this season has been the emergence of guard Jett Howard, son of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. The true freshman missed a game against Purdue with an ankle injury but has come back in the last two to score 21 and eight points against Penn State and Northwestern, respectively.
Live games updates will appear below at tip-off.
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Under-16
The Wolverines got out to a hot shooting start from deep, as Dug McDaniel and Kobe Bufkin both hit triples while Hunter Dickinson nailed a jumper on a baseline face-up.
The Buckeyes trailed 10-4 at the 16-minute mark, as Zed Key and Justice Sueing had the only early points.
Under-12
But Brice Sensabaugh came in off the bench and provided a spark, as he got three quick points to cut the lead to 12-11. Even though the Buckeyes weren't able to take their first lead, his early impact was much-needed considering the spurt that was coming from Michigan.
Under-8
Wolverines guard Jett Howard started to catch his groove, showing off a smooth shooting stroke on five straight points to build a 20-14 lead. Eugene Brown III hit a triple for the Buckeyes to limit the deficit, but Ohio State went scoreless for nearly a three-minute stretch as the eight-minute mark approached. But four free throws from Sensabaugh made it a manageable, 26-19 deficit.
Under-4
The solid shooting continued for the Wolverines, as Joey Baker and Howard both hit triples to build an 11-point lead. But Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton had seven straight points for OSU, leading to an 8-0 run to make it a 34-31 Michigan lead.
Thornton hit another mid-range jumper as the two teams went back-and-forth to end the half. A late triple for the Buckeyes from Sueing made it just a 41-36 lead for Michigan after OSU had trailed by double digits.
HALFTIME: Michigan 41, Ohio State 36
Under-16
Sueing and Thornton picked up where they left off from the first half and scored the first four points to begin the final 20 minutes. But after cutting the Michigan lead to three, Bufkin hit another triple to keep the Buckeyes at bay.
Under-12
Still, despite the unstoppable offense from Dickinson, Sueing and Sensabaugh kept things tight with their jump-shooting. Sensabaugh came off the bench and hit a smooth-looking 3 in transition, but Dickinson had four straight points as part of a 6-0 run as the Buckeyes went scoreless for nearly three minutes.
Under-8
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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