Viewing guide: How to watch Ohio State vs. Michigan
COLUMBUS — Ohio State (12-4, 2-3) is making the trip up north to face rival Michigan (6-10, 1-4) Monday afternoon on Martin Luther King Day.
Both the Buckeyes and Wolverines are riding losing streaks and are in big need of a win. Ohio State has dropped back-to-back games, first at Indiana and then versus No. 15 Wisconsin.
Michigan, on the other hand, has lost five in a row. That stretch began with a double-overtime defeat to Florida and an 11-point setback to upstart McNeese St. of the Southland Conference. Most recently, the Wolverines have fallen to Minnesota, Penn State and Maryland.
Ohio State leads the all-time series, 101-81. The teams have split the last 10 meetings.
Lettermen Row has the rundown for how you can tune in Monday afternoon.
Ohio State vs. Michigan: Game time, details
- Time: 12 p.m. E.T.
- Watch: FOX
- Date: Monday, Jan. 15
- Location: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Line: Ohio State is a 1.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel.
- Over/under: 147.5 points
RELATED
How to watch Buckeyes
The Ohio State-Michigan game will be broadcast on FOX. Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson are on the call.
How to stream Buckeyes
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How to listen to Buckeyes
Paul Keels and Ron Stokes will have the call on the Ohio State Sports Radio Network 97.1 FM (WBNS).
The latest on Ohio State…
Via “After Wisconsin loss, Buckeyes evaluating how to find more offense, close games”
It’s not like Ohio State hasn’t closed games this season. The Buckeyes held off Alabama in the Emerald Coast Classic, got the last laugh against UCLA in a CBS Sports Classic rock fight and outlasted West Virginia in overtime at the Legends of Basketball Showcase.
Plus, Ohio State finished off Big Ten wins against both Minnesota and Rutgers.
Head coach Chris Holtmann’s team is 5-3 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. They were 3-13 in such games during the regular season last year.
But Ohio State has let large leads slip this season, even in some of those wins. The Buckeyes had a 20-point advantage in the second half against Minnesota that shrunk to six with under four minutes to go, they were up by 14 in the first half against WVU before the Mountaineers came back to force overtime and then Ohio State was ahead by 17 points versus Rutgers and won by only four.
Holtmann’s squad also squandered an 18-point second-half lead at Penn State and a nine-point advantage in the final frame at Indiana.
Ohio State dropped both of those games as well as Wednesday’s matchup versus No. 15 Wisconsin, which the Buckeyes lost, 71-60. Their setback against the Badgers was closer than the score indicates. Ohio State actually led by two points with 5:49 remaining. And, similar to last weekend’s defeat at Indiana — where the Buckeyes trailed by two with 1:44 left — Ohio State couldn’t deliver in the home stretch.
“Experience,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said postgame, when asked what separates a team in the final minutes of a Big Ten game.
“I think it’s a big thing. Chris has gone through the same thing with his team. He’s got a really good team this year because they went through a lot last year and had some rough moments as we did, too. And that experience has helped them. They’re better this year, and we’re better this year, based in part because of what we went through and what we gained from last year.”
As Gard said, Ohio State’s experience last year — during which it lost 13-of-14 games from Jan. 5 to Feb. 23, including nine by 10 points or fewer — has helped the Buckeyes this time around. As mentioned above, the Buckeyes have closed some games out this season, games they might have lost in 2022-23.
Still, they have to (1) protect the leads they build better and (2) buckle down late in games.
“I think the biggest thing for us to close out games is focusing on the little details,” said wing Jamison Battle, a transfer from Minnesota. “And I think that, for someone who’s been a fifth year and who understands that, I have to be more vocal about that, and I’ll take the responsibility in that aspect.
“But I think that’s the biggest thing is just honing in on those little details. Because in the end, those little details ultimately lead to big things, and that big thing is losing games. So if we focus on those details, whether it’s boxing out, rebounding, be in position for the ice, stuff like that, where those little things are shored up, that’s where games are won and games are lost.”
Ohio State didn’t take care of the little details late against Wisconsin Wednesday night in the Schottenstein Center. They had two defensive breakdowns in the final five minutes, perhaps most notably allowing Badgers guard Max Klesmit to drive to the cup, with no Buckeyes player stopping the ball, and scoring an easy two points.
That was part of a Klesmit-fueled, 19-4 Wisconsin run to end the game, a stretch in which Ohio State point guard Bruce Thornton — an 81.2% free throw shooter — missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Twice.
“We didn’t make shots, for one,” Holtmann said. “Missed a couple free throws. I think those were critical. I thought some of our looks were really good, to be honest with you. And then we had probably two breakdowns defensively. But I just think we’ve got to be able to make some of those clean, easy looks.”
For the full Lettermen Row notebook, head on over here.
