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College Football

Ohio State survives Michigan’s comeback attempt, advances to B1G Tournament final

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:

It wasn’t pretty, but the Buckeyes got it done.

Ohio State defeated Michigan 68-67 on Saturday afternoon, despite nearly blowing a 13-point lead in the final moments of the game. The Buckeyes will advance to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship game vs. either Iowa or Illinois.

Michigan ended the game on a 17-5 run over the final 4:19, but a last-second shot by Mike Smith was too long. Wolverines coach Juwan Howard opted to let the clock drain and put the fate of the game in Smith’s hands.

Here’s the final play:

With the win, OSU avoided an epic collapse that would have sent their rivals to the Big Ten Championship game. Ohio State’s final three possessions were turnovers, including two by star big man EJ Liddell.

Duane Washington Jr. and Liddell were Ohio State’s leading scorers with 24 and 18 points, respectively. As a team, Ohio State shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from 3-point range.

Michigan was in this game late because of its excellence at the free throw line. Howard’s squad sunk 21-of-23 attempts at the line, which nearly made up for a 35.1 percent field goal percentage.

The Big Ten Tournament final is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Spenser Davis

Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.