Ohio State Basketball: Keys to Beating Michigan in Rivalry Showdown

How many rivalries can say they started with an actual war?

As Becky Jacobs of The Mirror Newspapers noted, the feud between Ohio and Michigan actually began with the Toledo War in 1835, which was a border dispute over a strip of land that included Toledo. President Andrew Jackson even had to get involved to end the spat.

Now Ohio State and Michigan continue the battle on the football field and basketball court every year, and the Buckeyes and Wolverines will lace it up for the second time this season Sunday. It is a critical contest for an Ohio State squad looking to finish in second place in the Big Ten and a Michigan squad just looking for a win.

With that in mind, here are a few keys for the Buckeyes if they hope to come away with their second victory in as many tries against the hated Wolverines this season.

Fast Start

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There are few teams in the country reeling as much as Michigan right now.

The Wolverines have lost five in a row and six of seven, including a blowout loss on Tuesday to their other rival, Michigan State. A quick start for Ohio State would reinforce the notion that the Wolverines are overmatched in this contest and likely bring the intensity level of the crowd down as well.

The Buckeyes handled the Wolverines by 19 points in the first matchup, and a fast start would bring those memories back for those in maize and blue and likely impact the confidence of the players on the floor. It would also help the Buckeyes get over their heartbreaking loss to Michigan State from the last time out and shake off any rust from more than a week off between games.

Fast starts are important in almost any game, but Ohio State has a chance to dictate the tone of this one from the opening tip. It needs to take advantage.

Pound the Glass

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As of Wednesday, Michigan was an abysmal 319th in the country in total rebounds per game.

In fact, the two leading rebounders on the team are the injured guards Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton Jr., and neither of them were even averaging five boards a game on the season before their injuries. This is simply one of the worst power conference teams in the country down low, and the Buckeyes need to exploit this glaring weakness Sunday.

Despite the blowout win in the first matchup, Ohio State only enjoyed a 36-33 rebounding advantage against Michigan and needs to establish more control on the glass if it hopes to come away with a repeat performance on the road.

It is not very often that the Buckeyes have an advantage down low, but that is the case in Sunday’s game. Look for them to convert on some second-chance opportunities on the offensive end and limit Michigan to one shot on most possessions on the defensive side.

Get D’Angelo Russell Going

It is certainly too early to call the past couple of games a freshman wall for D’Angelo Russell, but there has to at least be some concern that he has struggled from the field recently.

Russell only scored 10 points against Michigan State on 4-of-13 shooting and didn’t make the plays many expected down the stretch of what became a nail-biter of a game. Although his 17 points looked better against Penn State in the contest before the one with the Spartans, Russell also shot 4-of-13 that night.

Nobody is asking Russell to get a triple-double every time out, but he needs to shoot the ball with more consistency than that if the Buckeyes are going to make a run to finish out the regular season before the tournament.

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There is no doubt that the game-changing talent is there, and Andrew Sharp of Grantland even compared Russell favorably to the college versions of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. That should be enough to turn heads for the rest of the season. 

"The common denominator with guards like Westbrook and Harden is that they had a knack for bending games to their will that you couldn’t really measure," Sharp said. "What makes a smaller player dominate is different from what makes a giant unstoppable. Whatever that quality is, Russell looks like he has it." 

February and March is when college basketball players turn that talent and potential into results. A solid game against Michigan would put Russell back on the right track to do just that.

Hit Free Throws

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Ohio State lost by three points in its last game at Michigan State. Ohio State shot 5-of-13 from the free-throw line in that contest.

Those two things seem related.

As Tim Shoemaker of Eleven Warriors noted, the Buckeyes shot 71.9 percent from the charity stripe in nonconference play but are only hitting 62.7 percent of their free throws during the Big Ten season. That simply isn’t going to cut it.

In fact, four of the Buckeyes’ starters shoot below 65 percent from the line (Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, Jae’Sean Tate and Anthony Lee), which means if anyone but Russell is fouled, Ohio State has a problem. Even Russell missed his two attempts against the Spartans.

Coach Thad Matta discussed the free-throw struggles, via Shoemaker: "We’ve got to find a way to shoot a better free-throw percentage. Earlier in the year we were shooting a very high percentage and I’m not exactly sure what’s happened.” 

If the Buckeyes plan on making noise in March, they need to figure out what happened. Sunday in Michigan would be a good place to start.

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