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), which lost for the third time in four games. Full seedings for the conference tourney are still to be determined, but both teams are guaranteed a bye to the second round.
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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. St. Vincent-St. Mary grad 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, although both Ohio State and Michigan won't play until Thursday. The Buckeyes will be the No. 6 seed, while the Wolverines will be slated either seventh or eighth.
