Buckeyes Bring Down Michigan, 84-75 – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2002
Box Score| Notes
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER
Associated Press Writer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Zach Williams was more than happy to share.
Ohio State beat Michigan 84-75 on Saturday night to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with at least two other teams.
“It feels real good,” Williams, a forward who had eight points and six rebounds, said of sharing the championship with Wisconsin and Indiana. “I don’t care how many teams we share it with.”
Boban Savovic and Brian Brown each scored 19 points to lead the No. 18 Buckeyes (20-7, 11-5) to their 17th conference title.
Wisconsin locked up its share Wednesday by beating Michigan 74-54. Indiana staked its claim to the conference crown with a 79-67 win over Northwestern on Saturday. Illinois has a chance to make it four Big Ten champions when it plays at Minnesota on Sunday.
The win also gave Ohio State its fourth straight 20-win season, matching the school record set from 1960-63.
Buckeyes players and the fans who made the trip from Ohio took to the court and jumped up out and down screaming “O-S-U! O-S-U! as Michigan fans made their way to the exits.
“This shows how great our fans are,” said Brown, who added eight assists and six rebounds. “It feels good that they were there to support us.”
The Wolverines (10-17, 5-11), who have lost six in a row and seven of eight, were led by Dommanic Ingerson with 21 points. Bernard Robinson Jr. had 20 points, and senior Chris Young, who was playing his final game at Crisler Arena, added 17.
“They played tough. I give them credit, but we were the better team,” Savovic said.
The Buckeyes posted their largest margin of victory in a Big Ten contest this season in a 69-47 rout of the Wolverines on Jan. 24, but Saturday’s game was much more competitive.
“I’ve been asked a few times before this game … if this team has quit,” Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. “I take offense to that because I’ve been very proud to coach this team.”
“There have been a few disasters along the way, but at no point has this team quit,” Amaker said.
Michigan erased a 13-point Ohio State lead and pulled to 72-68 at 2:40 on a field goal by Robinson. But the Buckeyes pulled away with a layup and then a pair of free throws by Terence Dials.
“We cut it down to four a couple of times,” said Leon Jones, who also was playing his last regular-season game as a Wolverine. “We just didn’t come up with that big stop and the big shot that put us over the top.”
With Michigan trailing 58-49, Robinson scored and was intentionally fouled by Brent Darby with less than 9 minutes remaining. Robinson made both free throws to make it 58-53.
But the Wolverines were called for a double dribble on their next possession, and Ohio State scored eight straight points to take a 66-53 lead.
“This is something I’ll never forget, playing in front of a lot of family and friends” said Darby, a Detroit native who had 17 points.
After Robinson scored from the paint to close Michigan to within two at 45-43, Ohio State scored seven straight to take a 52-43 lead – its largest to that point – with 13:54 remaining.
The Wolverines took a 25-22 lead on a 3-pointer by Ingerson at 4:25, but Ohio State ended the half on a 12-4 run to lead 34-29.
A running one-hander by Robinson tied it at 20-20 and capped a 9-2 Michigan run with 5:46 remaining in the half.
Savovic scored Ohio State’s first seven points, staking the Buckeyes to a 7-2 lead.
Both teams well from the field. Ohio State made 54 percent and Michigan made 50.
For the Wolverines’ last regular-season game, Amaker started five seniors: Young at center, former walk-ons Rotolu Adebiyi and Herb Gibson at forward and former walk-on and fifth-year senior Mike Gotfredson and Jones as guards.
