Michigan vs. Ohio State: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Things continue to go well for Ohio State athletics.

Just 24 hours after the Buckeyes captured the College Football Playoff National Championship, the basketball team kept the momentum going with a 71-52 win over rival Michigan.

D'Angelo Russell was the star of the day, totaling 21 points to go with six assists, four rebounds and four steals in an all-around great effort. Additionally, Shannon Scott continued his impressive year as a facilitator, finishing with eight assists with just one turnover. 

However, the defense was the true story, as the team combined for 11 steals and five blocks, while holding the Wolverines to just 33.9 percent shooting. Caris LeVert had a team high of 14 points, while Zak Irvin added 11.

The game seemed to be going Michigan's way early as Irvin scored eight of the team's first 12 points to take an early lead. Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press liked what he saw from the sophomore early:

However, the rest of the half was all about the Buckeyes, as the defense started to swarm, while the offense got easy baskets inside. Brendan F. Quinn of MLive Media Group noticed the start to the run:

The most telling moment in the first half was well-described by Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch:

Ohio State pulled away to earn a 39-24 lead at the half, which led to some high praise from CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie:

"

That was without a doubt Ohio State’s best first half of the season.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) January 14, 2015"

Amazingly, the second half went even worse for the Wolverines as it took over six minutes of playing time for them to get their first points. Nick Baumgardner of MLive Media Group noted how bad things got:

By that time, the Buckeyes had already doubled up their rivals with a 52-26 lead.

The rout continued as Ohio State pushed the pace and forced difficult shots on the defensive end. Max Bultman of The Michigan Daily explained an important difference between the teams:

Meanwhile, the Wolverines seemed allergic to the paint while continually settling for jump shots. This not only led to bricks, but they also couldn't get to the charity stripe, as Rob McCurdy of the Mansfield News-Journal explained:

Mark Donnal took the team's first free-throw attempts about 36 minutes into the game.

Even with Michigan having a few quality moments, the lead seemed insurmountable to those watching along, like ESPN's Myron Medcalf:

It wasn't this big, but the Buckeyes were able to close out a dominant home victory to drop the Wolverines to 3-2 in the conference.

Ohio State came into the day looking to bounce back from a 2-2 start to the conference season. The recent loss against Indiana featured not only poor performance but seemingly a lack of effort from the players.

Before facing Michigan, senior Sam Thompson discussed the need to play with more energy, according to McCurdy:

"

We know we're an energy basketball team. We play our best when we play with energy, when we play with intensity, when we're making stops and we're getting out in transition, when we're jumping up and high-fiving each other. It's up to us to come out and play that way every game. 

Every guy in that locker room knows how important it is. It's just about us coming out and executing it.

"

The players certainly seemed more active in this one, and it made the difference as the Buckeyes were able to once again get over .500 in the Big Ten.

Keeping this going will not be easy for the Buckeyes, though, as they will have to go on the road Saturday with a matchup against Iowa. The Hawkeyes have already earned a win in Columbus this year and will look to complete the sweep in the return trip.

Michigan will hope to stay near the top of the conference standings with a home game against Northwestern Saturday, followed by a road battle against Rutgers. As long as the Wolverines play to their potential, they should be able to go into the Jan. 24 battle against Wisconsin with plenty of momentum.

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