Ohio State loves the drama – they appear to like to get up double digits and then see if they can survive. Down 8 with 2 minutes to play, Michigan got the ball down to the Hunter Dickinson in the post, who missed his first layup but put it back in to cut the lead to 6. Then, Dickinson stole the ball in the backcourt and drove to the basket to cut the lead to 4.

Ohio State took the clock down to a minute but EJ Liddell turned it over on the driver. Michigan sets up their offense, and some great ball movement got Chaundee Brown open for a three-pointer to cut the lead to 1. Then, Michigan’s Mike Smith played great defense on CJ Walker who turned the ball over when he barely stepped out on the line under the basket.

So with 29 seconds left, Mike Smith dribbles the ball up the court, and stops around half-court. One of the announcers goes and says, “Juwaan is going for the win here”, as they continue to drain the clock. It was pretty clear this possession was going to end the game.

And after using great offense and ball movement to cut the double digit lead, the play that gets called out ends up being Mike Smith draining the clock to 5 seconds, little movement by anyone on the Wolverines, and everyone watching as Smith settles for a contested fade-away three-pointer that misses.

You have a full 30 seconds, you don’t run your offense, you decide to do stupid isolation NBA basketball, and jack up a three with a player in your face. Juwaan Howard deserves a lot of credit for leading the Wolverines to a great season so far – but he didn’t play for the win today. Not to take anything away from the Buckeyes who played hard for the victory, but Michigan’s end-game strategy certainly made it easier for them to hold on for the win.