Buckeyes Surge Late to Top Michigan
Washington, Walker and Wesson Bros. reach double figures
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After slogging through a miserable January, No. 23 Ohio State has won eight of its last 10 games, a surge that culminated in a 77-63 victory over No. 19 Michigan in front of sold-out crowd Sunday.
The Buckeyes (20-9, 10-8 Big Ten) did it by overwhelming the Wolverines late. After Michigan's Jon Teske hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54 with 6:41 left, CJ Walker's jumper and back-to-back 3s by brothers Andre and Kaleb Wesson touched off a 23-9 Ohio State run to cap the victory.
Ohio State was led by its guards, but all five starters hit double figures. Duane Washington Jr. tied a career high with 20 points, and Walker had 15 and a career-tying six rebounds. Andre Wesson and Kaleb Wesson each had 14 points.
The resurgence from Ohio State came after a 2-6 start in Big Ten play in 2020 and the announcement that guard D.J. Carton was leaving the team for mental health reasons.
"Listen, we realize plenty of people wrote us off," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. "When we were 2-6 they made fun of us. We had people kind of making fun of us and, you know, putting all their sarcastic tweets out there. I got them all saved. All of them."
The Buckeyes have won three straight, swept the season series against Michigan, winning 61-58 in Ann Arbor on Feb. 4, and reached 20 wins for the third straight season and the 30th time in school history.
Franz Wagner had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolverines (18-11, 9-9), who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.
The two teams have followed s similar pattern: a hot start, January doldrums and improved play down the stretch.
Ohio State led 32-29 at the half behind Washington's 12 points and 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range. The Buckeyes did not allow Michigan an offensive rebound in the first half.
RAINING 3s
Both coaches acknowledged that late 3-pointers from the Wesson brothers was the spark that pushed Ohio State ahead to stay.
The Buckeyes had a 56-54 lead when Andre Wesson hit a falling 3-pointer that banked in off the glass. Then, after a defensive rebound by Ohio State, Kaleb hit a bomb to stretch the lead to 62-54. He banked in another 3-pointer with 1:36 left to make it 73-60.
"Unfortunately, when guys are making shots like that, then obviously their confidence levels are extremely high," Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. "It was a back-breaker for us."
Ohio State was 11 for 21 from 3-point range for 52.4%.
"It was just one of those days for balls falling," Washington said.
BIG PICTURE
Michigan: The Wolverines hate to lose to Ohio State, and they did twice this season. This one came after they lost to Wisconsin 81-74 at home on Thursday.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes have shaken off their mid-season malaise and seemed poise to take some momentum into the NCAA Tournament.
"We're built for this," said Walker, a Florida State transfer.
"It's a long season," he said. "I've always said the Big Ten is a tough conference that has it's ups and downs. Right now we're on our up so we'll just try to stay consistent with that and keep going."
POLL IMPLICATIONS
With plenty of Top 25 losses this weekend, the Buckeyes could move up a few slots in the AP Top 25 and likely will be among as many as 10 Big Ten teams to make the NCAA Tournament.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Ohio State forward Kyle Young missed his second game with a high-ankle sprain suffered in the Feb. 23 win over Maryland. He is day-to-day.
UP NEXT
Michigan: Hosts Nebraska on Thursday before finishing the regular season at No. 9 Maryland on March 8.
Ohio State: Hosts Illinois on Thursday before wrapping up the season at No. 24 Michigan State on March 8.
ST. JOHN'S 91, NO. 10 CREIGHTON 71
NEW YORK (AP) -- Greg Williams Jr. made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points as St. John's slowed down No. 10 Creighton with a surprising 91-71 rout on Sunday.
Rasheem Dunn had 19 points, a career-high 10 assists and six rebounds for the Red Storm (15-14, 4-12 Big East), who stopped a three-game skid. LJ Figueroa added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Julian Champagnie scored 13.
One of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country, St. John's went a season-best 14 of 22 from long range in its biggest victory under first-year coach Mike Anderson. It was the school's first win over a top-10 team at Carnesecca Arena on campus since beating Bernard King and No. 7 Tennessee in December 1975.
Over the years, St. John's plays many of its big-time games at Madison Square Garden.
Damien Jefferson equaled a career best with 20 points and Ty-Shon Alexander scored 19 for the Bluejays (22-7, 11-5), who had won five straight and nine of 10. Creighton could have captured its first Big East championship by winning its final three regular-season games, but now needs help after falling two games behind first-place Seton Hall with two to play.
NO. 11 LOUISVILLE 68, VIRGINIA TECH 52
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Jordan Nwora had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Louisville beat Virginia Tech to move into first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cardinals (24-6, 15-4 ACC) rebounded from last week's loss at No. 6 Florida State and took a half-game lead over the Seminoles, who swept the season series and hold the tiebreaker with two games to play. Louisville has one game remaining, at third-place Virginia on Saturday.
Jalen Cone scored 15 points off the bench and Nahiem Alleyne had 12 for Virginia Tech (15-14, 6-12), which lost its fourth in a row and ninth in 10 games.
STANFORD 72, NO. 21 COLORADO 64
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Bryce Wills scored 19 points, including a key layup in the final minute, and Stanford beat Colorado.
Oscar da Silva added 16 points, and Deajon Davis and Tyrell Terry each had 12 for the Cardinal (20-9, 10-7 Pac-12), who won their fourth straight.
Tyler Bey scored 17 points to lead the Buffaloes (21-9, 10-7), who lost a third consecutive game for the first time this season. McKinley Wright had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and D'Shawn Schwartz had 14 points.
NO. 25 HOUSTON 68, CINCINNATI 55
HOUSTON (AP) -- Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, Nate Hinton had 16 and Houston beat Cincinnati.
Sasser, who scored 12 points in the second half, shot 8 of 16, including 5 of 12 on 3-pointers. Caleb Mills added 15 points for Houston (22-7, 12-4 American Athletic Conference), which shot 36%.
The Cougars moved back into a tie atop the American with Tulsa, one game ahead of Cincinnati (18-10, 11-5).
Tre Scott had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarron Cumberland added 11 points for the Bearcats.