COLUMBUS, Ohio — DeVante’ Jones scored 21 points and Michigan rallied in the second half, wrapping up its up-and-down Big Ten regular season by beating No. 23 Ohio State 75-69 Sunday.
Fill-in coach Phil Martelli guided the Wolverines (17-13, 11-9) as coach Juwan Howard finished out his five-game suspension for hitting a Wisconsin assistant in a postgame handshake line.
Howard is expected back on the sidelines when the Big Ten conference begins this week.
E.J. Liddell recorded his eighth double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Ohio State (19-10, 12-8).
Seedings for the conference tourney are still to be determined.
Trailing by as many as nine points in the first half and down by seven at the break, the Wolverines went on a 14-1 run midway through the second to jump ahead 56-44 with 10:18 left.
The Buckeyes pulled within four points with 11 seconds remaining, but Terrance Williams II made a pair of free throws to seal it.
Williams added 17 points for the Wolverines while Eli Brooks and Moussa Diabate scored 14 apiece.
Malaki Branham led Ohio State with 18 points and Justin Ahrens had 12, including four 3-pointers.
DICKINSON UNAVAILABLE
Wolverines 7-foot-1 center Hunter Dickinson missed Sunday’s game due to a stomach ailment.
BIG PICTURE
Michigan: The Wolverines’ offense took a blow in Dickinson’s absence, shooting 41% after reaching at least 50% in the last three games.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes dropped their fourth game against unranked teams in their last seven outings. Opponents have shot 42.2% or better in six of those games.
UP NEXT:
The Big Ten Tournament begins Wednesday.
