INDIANAPOLIS — Midway through the first half of the semifinal game of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan guard Matt Vogrich fought for possession with Ohio State center Jared Sullinger.
Sullinger tossed Vogrich — who is about the size of one of Sullinger’s legs — to the ground like a rag doll, as Sullinger kept two hands on the ball and wound up being awarded the jump ball.
The Wolverines didn’t look much different than Vogrich, as the Buckeyes outlasted them on Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse, 68-61.
And just like Vogrich, Michigan fought until the last second. Ohio State went on a 16-0 run midway through the second half to lead by as many as 18 points, but the Wolverines kept it interesting until the last 10 seconds.
“Yeah, when you’re playing against Ohio State, you have to either make your own breaks or have some breaks and really play through that, and that’s where they got on the 16-0 run,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game. “It just started with a couple tough breaks.”
With 3-pointers from junior guard Zack Novak, freshman forward Evan Smotrycz and junior guard Stu Douglass in the final minute, Michigan cut the Buckeyes’ lead to just two possessions.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s just kind of what we’ve done all year, I think,” Novak said. “There’s been a couple times where we’ve just been knocked down, and we just keep fighting. You know, (we) came back yesterday not in the same way, but we just — we knew there was still a chance, so we were just going to keep fighting and see what happens.”
While the Wolverines fought for every point, Ohio State went to the charity stripe twice but made only one of four free throws. That gave Michigan one last chance to execute what seemed like an insurmountable comeback.
As assistant coach Bacari Alexander yelled to his players on the bench — telling them why they should never give up and play until the end — Ohio State’s defense double teamed Douglass and Smotrycz while they had the ball. And as a result of a suffocating defense, no Wolverine could get off a clean shot.
Alexander also told his players to dive for loose balls like redshirt freshman Jordan Morgan had done. On one play, Morgan drew a foul as he face planted for a loose rebound. Ohio State found itself in foul trouble early because of the effort.
Two starting Buckeyes — point guard Aaron Craft and shooting guard David Lighty — had to sit most of the first half after collecting two fouls early. Then Jordan Sibert, who came in as a result of the early foul trouble, recorded two personals as well.
Unlike the Wolverines, Ohio State is not known for having much depth to its roster. However, coach Thad Matta finagled with the lineup, went into halftime holding onto a 31-27 advantage and then was able to play his starters in the second stanza.
“We got them into a bit of trouble,” Morgan said. “I thought that maybe we could use that to our advantage a little more, but we didn’t. In the second half, I think all their starters were in again.”
And once the Buckeyes had their starting five in the game, it seemed like they could do execute at ease on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Ohio State shot 47 percent from the field and collected 39 rebounds to Michigan’s 33. Sullinger tallied a game-high 13 rebounds to give the Buckeyes a lot of second chances.
“That’s also something we can’t let happen,” Morgan said. “It’s hard when they miss shots but then get their own rebounds. It kills us and gives them a lot of momentum.”