ANN ARBOR, Mich. _ CJ Walker scored his only points of the game with 17.9 seconds to play Tuesday night, hitting two free throws to clinch a 61-58 Ohio State win against Michigan at the Crisler Center.
The Buckeyes (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) danced as the final seconds ticked off against the Wolverines (13-9, 4-7), their scarlet jerseys standing in stark contrast to the maize and blue shirts heading to the exits.
A dramatic finish was set into action when Duane Washington Jr. made a 3-pointer from straight-on to answer a corner 3 from Michigan's Eli Brooks, reclaiming the Ohio State lead at 57-56 with 54.1 seconds to play.
After the Buckeyes called timeout, Michigan dribbled down the shot clock before senior guard Zavier Simpson drove against Ohio State's Kyle Young and drew a foul with 33.3 seconds left. In the process, Simpson ripped Young's jersey as he fell to the floor, forcing Young to don a No. 50 uniform after a lengthy video review of the situation.
Simpson was issued a flagrant one foul for the action, and after he hit both free throws to give Michigan a 58-57 lead, Young stepped to the line at the other end and followed suit to reclaim a 59-58 lead and give the Buckeyes the ball underneath Michigan's basket.
They called timeout with 23.7 seconds to play and 21 seconds on the shot clock, and after being fouled with 17.9 seconds left, Walker hit the winning free throws.
Kaleb Wesson finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Washington had 17 points to power the win.
An offensive stalemate stretched past the midpoint of the second half, but the Buckeyes took a further blow to their depth when sophomore guard Luther Muhammad lost the ball on a drive after drawing contact to his injured right shoulder.
Muhammad had worn a heavy brace on the shoulder after dislocating it during practice Thursday but shed it for a tape job instead at halftime. The contact left him crouched in pain at Michigan pushed the ball upcourt and got a 3-pointer from Simpson to reclaim a 41-40 lead with 8:36 to play.
Without him and freshman D.J. Carton, who missed his second straight game after taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team, Muhammad's injury gave the Buckeyes only two available scholarship guards: Walker and Washington.
Trailing 49-46, Young collected a Washington miss and scored, then one possession nabbed what would have been a turnover and fed the ball to Washington for a 3-pointer that led to a 51-51 tie at the final media timeout with 3:54 to play and set the stage for the final drama.
Ohio State has won three straight games, two of them on the road, to distance itself from a stretch of six losses in seven games. Michigan, which had won its past two meetings with the Buckeyes, had answered a four-game losing streak with a two-game winning streak entering the game.
The Buckeyes committed only eight turnovers.
