COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State Buckeyes hosted the Michigan Wolverines and dominated the paint to pick up a 76-66 win. Caris LeVert, who has averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game this season, was not active for the Wolverines. 

It was the first 10 minutes of the game where we said, ‘oh we’ve got to step it up,’” said Michigan center Mark Donnal. “By that time, they were already up. We’ve just got to do a better job of staying locked in for the next game.”

Marc Loving and Jae'Sean Tate bath scored 13 points for the Buckeyes (17-10), while Trevor Thompson and JaQuan Lyle scored 12 points each. Loving chipped in five assists and 10 rebounds. Kam Williams shot 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line for 10 points off the bench. 

With 44 seconds to play before halftime, Tate found himself under the basket on a nice feed from a teammate for a score and a 33-27 lead for Ohio State. Tate, on the next possession, got fouled on a layup and finished the old-fashion three-point play at the charity stripe to hold a 36-28 edge at the break. The Buckeyes held the Wolverines to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field. 

At halftime, Michigan was led by Zak Irvin and Donnal, who both had six points. On the other side of the ball, Ohio State found themselves with nine points off the hand of Tate, and 14 bench points compared to five bench points for Michigan. 

We had a little bit of a slow start and it was a rivalry game on the road,” said Irvin. “It was a big game for both teams. Tonight they wanted it more and they’re the better team.”

The 1,000 career point for Irvin cut Michigan's deficit to nine with 1:03 left in the contest. Tate fouled out just 30 seconds later as Michigan was looking for a comeback. At the buzzer, Aubrey Dawkins was blocked by Lyle, an Ohio State freshman guard, as time expired. LeVert did not touch the court, not once. 

We were very hopeful with those two days in between we’d be able to say, ‘he’s back’ and we’d be able to do some things to get some type of continuity of what we would run against these guys (OSU) and in the future,” U-M coach John Beilein said. “We couldn’t dummy with him or anything yesterday because we wanted to be so cautious.”

The Wolverines (19-8) struggled shooting the ball, as the team from Ann Arbor finished 5-for-24 from downtown, which is 21 percent and 23-for-59 from the field. Meanwhile, Ohio State kncoked down 36 percent of three-point jumpers and went 27-for-50 from the floor on Tuesday night. 

Our week of playing at Minnesota Wednesday, an emotional week, winning that game at Purdue and the lack of depth we have right now may have affected some of our guys,” Beilein said.

Donnal provided a team-high 17 points for the Maize and Blue, while chipping in one assist and seven rebounds. Irvin cashed in for 15 points, three assists, nine rebounds and two steals. Last but not least, Derrick Walton Jr. dished off five assists, pulled down five boards and scored 13 points. The Wolverines only got nine bench points. 

It was the first win for Ohio State in the rivalry against Michigan since 2013. It was the 162nd meeting all-time between the two schools, which Ohio State holds a 91-71 advantage. 

Ohio State will play at the Nebraska Cornhuskers on February 20th at 7:00 PM ET. Meanwhile, Michigan will take to the road for a battle against the No. 6 Maryland Terrapins on February 21st at 1:00 PM ET. Both teams are fighting for a spot in the 2016 NCAA Tournament

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About the author
Evan Petzold
Evan Petzold is a Detroit-based journalist with expertise in covering the Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. A member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) and Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DBSA), he brings a unique skill set in reporting and broadcasting to the table.