Aday Mara scored a career-high 24 points as No. 2 Michigan cruised to its eighth straight win with an 82-61 verdict over Ohio State on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.
Mara made 11 of 16 field goal attempts and grabbed six rebounds while Yaxel Lendeborg had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Wolverines (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten) as they maintained the league lead and extended the best start in school history. Trey McKenney added 12 points and Morez Johnson Jr. contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Bruce Thornton had 16 points, Devin Royal 15 and Christoph Tilly 10 for the Buckeyes (15-8, 7-6 Big Ten), who never led while falling to Michigan for the second time in 17 days.
Michigan took a 4-2 lead and never looked back to take a 44-34 advantage into the locker room.
A critical juncture came when the Wolverines’ Mara, Nimari Burnett and L.J. Cason nailed 3-pointers in a 1:42 stretch to turn a 26-24 edge into a 35-26 lead.
Michigan extended its lead to 44-32 as the Buckeyes hit one of their final seven shots in the first half.
Tilly got off to a hot start with eight points in the first 3:35 of the game, but he did not score the remainder of the half and went to the bench with his third foul with two minutes to go.
The Wolverines won the battle of the boards 44-31, with 17 of them on the offensive glass that helped them outscore the Buckeyes 42-20 in the paint.
Michigan won 74-62 on Jan. 23 in Ann Arbor in the first of the home-and-home series that second-year Ohio State coach Jake Diebler pushed for after the schools played once last season. He enlisted the help of Michigan coach Dusty May to ensure the rivalry made the conference’s protected series list.
Michigan increased its 10-point halftime lead to 54-39 on Johnson’s fast-break dunk after a block by Lendeborg. The Buckeyes did not get closer than 11 points thereafter.
