Third-ranked Michigan enters Friday’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinal against Ohio State on five days of rest, the well-earned advantage for the conference’s regular-season champion.
As the top-seeded Wolverines aim to repeat the feat with a tourney title amid lofty NCAA Tournament hopes, coach Dusty May insists players are keeping an even keel.
“As far as the hunter or being hunted, it’s the same for us,” May said. “We’re obsessed with playing great basketball possession by possession, and other than the time and score stuff, we encourage our guys (to) separate from the scoreboard. Let’s play good ball, get lost in a fight and see where we are.”
Michigan (29-2), which lost only one league game during the regular season, will meet the eighth-seeded Buckeyes, a team with more pep and growing confidence compared to the last time the teams met on Feb. 8.
That’s when visiting Michigan drubbed Ohio State (21-11) by 21 points. The Wolverines also prevailed by 12 on their home floor when the schools met on Jan. 23.
On Thursday afternoon, Ohio State had four scorers in double figures, including Bruce Thornton (24 points) and Christoph Tilly (16), and the Buckeyes defeated Iowa 72-69 to reach the quarterfinals.
Ohio State led by 16 points near the midpoint of the second half before holding off several Hawkeyes runs down the stretch. When it wasn’t Thornton, the team’s top scorer, the Buckeyes typically answered behind the frontcourt duo of Tilly and Amare Bynum (11 points).
“Just being poised in the paint,” Bynum said. “We’ve been working on being poised, just finishing over people and just using our athletic ability.”
Michigan knows how to flex some interior muscle, too. Wolverines 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara scored 24 points against Ohio State in the Feb. 8 game, while senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg averaged 16.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two meetings.
Lendeborg (14.7 points), forward Morez Johnson Jr. (13.7) and Mara (11.3) each carry double-figure scoring averages for the Wolverines.
To May, Michigan’s depth extends to the locker room, where “it’s not one guy leading our locker room, it’s not two, it’s everyone.”
“Leadership is open to everyone in our locker room,” May added, “and these guys have a real way about them, and the other guys that don’t want to lead can be led because they know the person who’s speaking up or trying to hold them accountable has our best interest at heart, not any personal best interest.”
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler sees similar unselfishness among the Buckeyes, who have won four straight games after avenging a 17-point loss at Iowa on Feb. 25.
“Really excited about where we are as a team right now, the fight that we’re playing with, the connection we’re playing with on both sides of the ball,” Diebler said. “It’s really been a joy to coach this group.
“They’ve stuck together through a lot of adversity, and I think that’s why we’re playing our best ball here down the stretch. Our plan is to keep it moving, keep it going. We’ve got to get some rest, some recovery, and get ready to do it again tomorrow.”
