Buckeyes down Michigan

Published 12:02 am Sunday, January 18, 2009

Evan Turner scored 19 points and William Buford and B.J. Mullens each added 15 to help Ohio State beat Big Ten rival Michigan 65-58 on Saturday night, spoiling the Wolverines’ celebration of their 1988-89 national championship team.

Michigan’s Stu Douglass hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 47 with five minutes to play, but the Buckeyes (13-3, 3-2) went on a 10-0 run in the next four minutes to put the game away. Mullens had five points during the decisive spurt.

Manny Harris scored 21 points and Douglass added 12 for Michigan (13-5, 3-3), which lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

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The Wolverines were just 7-of-26 from the floor and trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but closed it on a 9-2 run and cut Ohio State’s lead to 29-25 at the break.

Harris scored Michigan’s first seven points of the second half and the Wolverines led much of the way. But Ohio State caught up with a quick 7-0 run midway through the half, and the taller Buckeyes wound up outscoring Michigan 32-18 in the paint and outrebounding their rivals, 32-28.

All but two members of the 1989 national title team, including all-time leading scorer Glenn Rice and Rumeal Robinson, whose free throws late in overtime sealed the championship-game win over Seton Hall.

The Wolverines donned blue jerseys matching the design Rice and his teammates wore when they won the championship in Seattle.