The Buckeyes finished the regular season with losses in four of their final seven games.
Ohio State’s late-season struggles continued on Sunday afternoon, as rival Michigan came to Columbus and spoiled Senior Day with a 75-69 win.
The Buckeyes led by seven at halftime, but the Wolverines used a pair of second-half runs to surge ahead. That includes a 9-2 run out of intermission and a 14-1 run midway through the half that put them ahead by 12 points with more than 10 minutes remaining.
Ohio State was able to cut Michigan’s to just four points when senior forward Justin Ahrens hit a three-pointer with 1:46 left, but freshman guard Kobe Bufkin answered with a three of his own on the other end to seal the victory.
Wolverines senior guard Devante’ Jones led all scorers with 21 points, while sophomore forward Terrance Williams (17 points), senior guard Eli Brooks (14 points) and freshman forward Moussa Diabate (14 points) also finished in double figures.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, were led offensively by freshman forward Malaki Branham with 18 points. Junior forward E.J. Liddell recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Ahrens added 12 points on four three-pointers.
Ohio State will now be the six seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament and will take on the the winner of No. 11 Penn State and the No. 14 seed, which will be either Minnesota or Nebraska, depending on the score of the Golden Gophers’ game at Northwestern this evening.
Tipoff for the Buckeyes’ tournament game will be approximately 9 p.m. on BTN. That said, check out photos from today’s game below:
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