11/20/2022
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – With 2.1 seconds remaining and Ohio trailing by two, graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) tied the game at 63-63 as time expired. However, the Ohio men’s basketball team (1-3) was unable to overcome 20th-ranked Michigan (4-1) in overtime Sunday night (Nov 20), falling 70-66, inside the Crisler Center.
“We’re really proud of our guys,” head coach Jeff Boals said. “Coming off the loss of Detroit, they came back and had a couple of really good days of practice. They responded, came out and competed from the start and I thought we deserved the win. But give Michigan credit, they made the plays in the first half and overtime to win it. But our guys battled and controlled most of the game. And we just came up short.”
As a team, Ohio shot 35 percent from the field, 25 percent from three and were 5-of-11 from the line, while Michigan shot 38 percent from the field, 31 percent from three and were 12-of-20 from the line. Ohio outrebounded Michigan, 49-46 and dished out 14 assists to their 12, Ohio also grabbed six steals and forced 11 turnovers, while Michigan had three steals and forced eight turnovers.
Individually, Ohio was led by Wilson III with 21 points, going 10-of-19 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds, followed by junior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) added six points, while senior guard DeVon Baker (Dayton, Ohio) scored five points and grabbed five rebounds. Sophomore forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) grabbed seven rebounds.
Michigan won the tip and got on the board first with a layup, however the Bobcats quickly took the lead on back-to-back layups from Hunter. After Michigan retook the lead, a steal and a jumper from Baker and another layup from Wilson III, put Ohio up 8-5 and forcing the Wolverines to call a timeout with 15:12 left in the first half. Out of the timeout, a three from Brown and another jumper from Baker put the Bobcats up seven. After a three from Michigan, Brown matched it with his scored of the game, helping give Ohio a 16-11 lead with 11:47 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, Michigan cut the Ohio lead to two, before a layup from Wilson III put Ohio back up four. After another Michigan jumper, a three from Hunter put the Bobcats up 21-16 with 7:25 remaining in the first half. Moments out of the timeout, another three from brown put the Bobcats back up eight, before Michigan matched it with a jumper. Seconds later, Hunter drained a three of his own, giving Ohio a nine-point lead. Then the Wolverines drained a three of their own, cutting the Ohio lead to 27-21 with 3:33 remaining in the first half. Out of the timeout, Michigan went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 30-30 with 30 seconds to go. After Baker hit a free throw with three seconds left, Michigan hit a three at the buzzer to take a 33-31 lead into the half.
At the half, Ohio shot 36 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and were 2-of-5 from the line, while Michigan shot 44 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and were 6-of-8 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Wolverines, 19-17, while Ohio dished out seven assists and had four steals to Michigan’s six assists and two steals.
Leading the Bobcats at the half was Hunter with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, followed by Brown with nine points and four rebounds. Baker added five points and three assists.
A layup from Wilson III to open the second half tied the game at 33-33. After both teams traded baskets, Michigan went on a 6-0 run to take a six-point lead, before a layup from Hunter cut the deficit to four going into the first media timeout. After Michigan went back up six, a jumper from Hunter and back-to-back threes from Roderick erased the Michigan lead, putting Ohio up 47-45 and forcing Michigan to call a timeout with 12:14 remaining in the game.
Out of the timeout, Michigan tied the game at 47-47, however the Bobcats then went on a 6-0 run to take a 53-47 lead with 10:03 left. After that, junior center Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.) and the Wolverines traded baskets, cutting the Ohio lead to 55-50 with 7:48 remaining in the game. After two free throws from Wiznitzer put Ohio back up seven, five-straight points from Michigan cut the Ohio lead to two with 5:20 left, forcing Ohio to burn a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bobcats regrouped, with Wilson III getting Ohio’s next four points, putting Ohio back up 61-55 going into the final media timeout.
After a three cut the lead to two, layup from the Wolverines tied the game at 61-61, giving Ohio the ball with one minute remaining. After both teams pulled up defensive stops, Ohio took a shot at a final three and was called for a foul tussling for the rebound, sending Michigan to the line with 2.1 seconds remaining. After the Wolverines hit both to take a two-point lead, Hunter heaved the ball down the court, allowing Wilson III to hit the putback basket as time expired to send the game to overtime time at 63-63.
Michigan got the first five points of overtime, taking a 68-63 lead before a jumper and a free throw from Wilson III cut the lead to two with a minute to go. However, Michigan hit their free throws down the stretch, sealing the 70-66 win for the Wolverines.
For Michigan, Hunter Dickinson led with 24 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Jett Howard with 13 points.
Up next, the Bobcats have a few days off for Thanksgiving before returning to Athens Nov. 25-27 for the Bobcat Battle. Ohio opens play on Friday, Nov. 25 against Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
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