Let's say I came to you before Ohio State's home game against Michigan and foretold that the Wolverines would shoot 32 percent on threes and turn it over on 21 percent of their possessions. Your reaction would be, "oh man, Buckeye blowout, dude!" followed by some air guitar. Instead, we got nothing of the sort in Ohio State's workmanlike 62-53 win. In fact, the Buckeyes got something of a scare, trailing by six points early in the second half and struggling against some stout Michigan defense. From there, William Buford hit back-to-back threes to even the score, and some cold Michigan shooting allowed the Buckeyes to take control down the stretch.

Still, this was an impressive effort from the Wolverines. Ohio State scored 0.99 points per possession--just the fourth time all season they've been held under a point per trip. The Buckeyes turned it over on 22 percent of their possessions and posted a 50.0 effective field goal percentage--by no means awful numbers, but well below what we're used to seeing from Thad Matta's offensive juggernaut. Michigan's defense was up to the task of the upset, but their offense, fresh off a thrashing of Iowa, was not.

Jared Sullinger led the way, posting 19 points on 10 shots and grabbing 15 rebounds. His only blemish was a team-high 4 turnovers.  Jon Diebler and William Buford took care of what outside shooting there was, combining for 22 points on 20 shots. Matta rode his horses hard yet again, with only 17 total minutes going to the sixth and seventh men. Say hello to Dallas Lauderdale, your eight minute starter.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored well for Michigan (15 points on 11 shots), but he was about the only one. Darius Morris had a tough time, scoring 12 points on 13 shots and turning it over a season-high 6 times.

It wasn't especially pretty, but it was yet another conference win for Ohio State. Sunday marks the start of an interesting week for the Buckeyes, as they'll play back-to-back road games against Minnesota and Wisconsin. The odds are still heavily against Ohio State going undefeated in Big Ten play, so every remaining road game has the potential to be their first slip-up. If the Buckeyes get to Valentine's Day unblemished, they can start clearing shelf space for their trophy.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller