Big Ten Tournament: Michigan Wolverines vs Ohio State Buckeyes prediction and college basketball game preview.
Michigan vs Ohio State Broadcast
Date: Saturday, March 13
Game Time: 1:00 ET
Venue: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Network: CBS
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Michigan (20-3) vs Ohio State (20-6) Game Preview
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Why Michigan Will Win
The brouhaha that took over the narrative overshadowed a brilliant performance by Michigan in the 79-66 win over Maryland. It took a little while to get going, but the offense kicked it all in, everything was dropping, and now the Big Ten regular season champion has to go through the arch-rival.
Ohio State was able to hold off a hard-charging Purdue in an 87-78 overtime win, but it blew an 18-point lead on the way to the victory.
In the first game between the Wolverines and Buckeyes, Ohio State hit everything. It made half of its shots from three, was great on the inside, and moved the ball around extremely well while avoiding a slew of turnovers and mistakes … and lost.
Michigan might not be perfect lately, and it would be nice to come up with a full 40 minutes of dominance against a team of Ohio State’s level, but the defense continues to be terrific and the shooting and versatility are still there to score in a variety of ways.
Why Ohio State Will Win
Can the Buckeyes pull an Illinois?
The Fighting Illini were able to roll past the Wolverines in a 76-53 win by being more aggressive on the boards, tougher on the inside, and dominant at getting out on the outside shooters. More than anything else, they were able to keep Michigan from making that extra pass or two for the right shot – the Wolverines had a season-low four assists.
Ohio State can’t keep up in a shootout. This has to be about the Buckeye defense and that means it has to find another gear and keep the Wolverines from getting to O into a flow – they had 19 assists in the first meeting.
However …
What’s Going To Happen
Ohio State just doesn’t force mistakes.
It’s one of the worst teams in the nation at forcing turnovers, it doesn’t come up with steals, and there are way, way too many fouls – the 22 against Purdue were a problem.
It’s Ohio State-Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament – obviously, crank up the intensity to a whole other level – but Michigan will do a better job of forcing mistakes and going on that one big run to control the game.
It would be a blast to get a repeat of that first meeting, but …
Michigan vs Ohio State Prediction, Line
Michigan 75, Ohio State 69
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Line: COMING, o/u: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
Must See Rating: 5
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