What Ohio State Basketball Must Do to Beat No. 2 Michigan on Sunday

Ohio State hosts No. 2 Michigan on Sunday, just weeks after a 74–62 road loss that slipped away in the final eight minutes.

The teams were tied nine times in that matchup before Michigan pulled away down the stretch. Looking back, head coach Jake Diebler pointed to late-game execution as the difference.

Why the Buckeyes couldn’t close their last game against Michigan

Ohio State largely executed its game plan for most of the game, but turnovers proved costly in the final eight minutes.

“We drove into traffic a couple times during that stretch,” Diebler said. “We gave up some transition buckets because of our turnovers.”

Michigan then capitalized on Ohio State’s mistakes on both ends of the court to pull away.

Ohio State’s leading scorer Bruce Thornton was also limited to 10 points in the loss, an uncharacteristic outing—setting the stage for a bounce-back performance.

“He’s gonna continue to operate at a high level, his approach never wavers,” Diebler said. “Doesn’t matter what we have going on or who we’re playing. He always brings his best every single game, every single opponent. I just want him to go out and be aggressive and be himself.”

What has changed since the last matchup

Although only a couple of weeks separate the two meetings, Ohio State has seen increased production from its bench—particularly from Taison Chatman.

“When you go back and reference the first time we played them, the bench production was really lopsided,” Diebler said. “And I think we’ve been searching and giving guys different opportunities to step up and provide some production for us off the bench, and Taison has really seized that as of late and the efficiency he’s played with has been really impressive.”

Chatman had not recorded a double-digit scoring game in his career before finishing with 11 points against Penn State. He followed that with a career-high 14 points against Wisconsin and added 10 in Ohio State’s most recent win over Maryland.

Aside from Chatman, the bench has raised its level of play collectively—something that will again be crucial against Michigan.

What Ohio State must do to beat Michigan

Against one of the biggest and deepest teams in the country, Ohio State will need to match Michigan’s physicality. That could mean extended stretches with both Christoph Tilly and Ivan Njegovan on the floor together.

Tilly, in particular, will need to execute at a high level offensively in the paint. He has become a weapon not only as a scorer, but as a playmaker capable of creating opportunities for others.

Diebler acknowledged that fatigue played a role in the first matchup, but said his team has trained to better handle those moments.

“There’s things I can do from timeouts and substitution patterns to help if that comes into play,” he said.

Limiting turnovers will again be a point of emphasis, though Ohio State has shown improvement in that area. The Buckeyes have committed fewer than 10 turnovers in each of their last three games.

“Moving off the ball, cutting, communicating, finding windows, and helping your teammate out when they are in a compromised position are all points of emphasis for us,” Diebler said.

What this game means for Ohio State

Ohio State understands the magnitude of the rivalry and what this win would mean as they look ahead to the NCAA Tournament.

“When guys join our program, they know that this game feels different,” Diebler said. “It is the best rivalry in all of college athletics. I’m biased, but arguably one of the best rivalries in all of sports. Once you’re in the trenches of it, you pick it up real quick.”

Ohio State and Michigan will tip off at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Schottenstein Center.