Buckeyes beat rival Michigan 68-57 on the road as EJ Liddell leads second half surge (Feb. 12, 2022)

The 16th ranked Buckeyes took down Michigan 68-57 on Saturday night in Ann Arbor (0:04), rebounding from a troubling loss at Rutgers earlier in the week. Ohio State has struggled on the road all season (0:13), going just 4-5 compared to a perfect 10-0 at home. EJ Liddell led the way against Michigan, scoring a game-high 28 points and five rebounds as the Buckeyes improved to 15-6. Eli Brooks had 17 points in the loss (0:17) as the Wolverines dropped to 13-10. Liddell started a bit slow but once he got going, the junior forward was able to get whatever shot he wanted (0:22). The Big Ten Player of the Year candidate continuously found the middle of the lane for a fall away jumper (0:37) or bullied his way into the lane to finish at the rim. He racked up an impressive 28 points, despite struggling from 3-point range, to go with three blocks (0:25) in 36 minutes. He also knocked down a clutch triple (0:51) to extend Ohio State's lead late in the second half. Malaki Branham (0:29) has become the Buckeyes second most important player but seemed timid at times at Michigan. After scoring 19 points including four 3-pointers in the loss at Rutgers, Branham had just six points, three rebounds and one assist on Saturday. He didn’t play poorly but the expectations are a bit higher. The same can be said for Michigan freshman forward Caleb Houstan (0:32), who totaled only five points and two rebounds in 34 minutes. FULL COVERAGE: Player Grades: https://scarletandgame.com/2022/02/13/ohio-state-basketball-player-grades-buckeyes-beat-rival-michigan-on-road/ Story: https://www.sportsposts.net/single-post/cbb-buckeyes-beat-rival-michigan-68-57-on-road Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7vsuiJG7ts Postgame Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJOm7miaqv4 Box Score: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401364435 Big Ten Rankings: https://www.sportsposts.net/single-post/cbb-2022-big-ten-power-rankings-2-0 Tournament Watch: https://www.sportsposts.net/single-post/cbb-tournament-watch-3-0 Twitter: https://twitter.com/chas_post23/status/1492947311739162624?s=21 LINKS/SOCIAL MEDIA: LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/charlespost Twitter: https://twitter.com/chas_post23 Dunking With Wolves: https://dunkingwithwolves.com/author/cpost/ Sports Posts: https://www.sportsposts.net/ Scarlet & Game: https://scarletandgame.com/author/cpost/ The Eastern Echo: http://www.easternecho.com/staff/charles-post We Love Ann Arbor: https://www.weloveannarbor.com/author/post-chasgmail-com/