Danny Wolf scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 20 Michigan ran its winning streak to six games with an 86-83 victory over Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
Wolf, the only player in the Big Ten to average a double-double (12.8 points, 10.0 rebounds per game) was 0-for-2 from the floor in the first half but shot 7-of-10 after the break.
Vladislav Goldin led the Wolverines (20-5, 12-2 Big Ten) with 20 points and had 10 rebounds as Michigan extended its conference lead to a full game over Michigan State.
Devin Royal scored 26, Bruce Thornton added 17 and John Mobley Jr. had 16 for the Buckeyes (15-11, 7-8), who missed out on a second straight win.
Thornton misfired on a 10-footer with two seconds left that would have tied the game at 85. Rubin Jones grabbed the rebound for the Wolverines and made one of two foul shots for the final margin.
Ohio State trailed by five with four minutes left but pulled even at 80-80 with 2:06 left on a soft jumper in the lane by Thornton. A Roddy Gayle Jr. layup and a putback by Goldin gave Michigan an 84-80 lead with 52.5 seconds left.
Micah Parrish scored the last of his nine points for the Buckeyes on a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to make it 84-83. Wolf then made one of two free throws before Parrish grabbed the rebound and Ohio State called timeout with 16 seconds to go.
The Wolverines led 44-39 at the half in what was an intense first 15 minutes before both offenses slowed.
By the media timeout with 3:33 left, the Buckeyes had missed their last eight field-goal attempts and hadn’t scored in nearly four minutes. They trailed 35-29.
Michigan had failed to extend its lead, though, as the Wolverines entered the under-four timeout having missed their last five shots.
Gayle Jr. scored nine points and secured eight rebounds off the bench in his return to Columbus. He played all 71 games for Ohio State the previous two seasons before transferring to the Buckeyes’ archrival.
–Field Level Media
