I think it is very easy to say that this was the best game of basketball played all year, by any team. The #3 Wolverines vs the #4 Buckeyes has lived up to the hype..and then some. Not a single person on that court woke up this morning and chose not to go out there and give it their all. This was a National Championship type of battle.
That was the best first half of basketball displayed by 2 teams all year without a doubt
— Jon Garner (@JonnyFairways) February 21, 2021
The Wolverines entered halftime shooting 10/13 from deep, and OSU going 6/13. that’s crazy cause 6/13 is still just under 50% which any team would take that all day, but Michigan just had a better answer to that.
Now I will admit, throughout the first half there was a couple of controversial calls that led to OSU buckets. As unbiased as possible, it reminded me a lot of the “JT was short” call.
Strong November 26th, 2016 vibes from the refs today pic.twitter.com/qeARPpAO3H
— True to the Blue (@SupportUofM) February 21, 2021
These refs were calling charge calls on Michigan, when the OSU player was moving to the side with his foot still off the ground; it didn’t just happen once either, it was all half. There were 5 charge/blocking calls throughout the first half, all of them were called against Michigan…little suspicious? But that’s not surprising sense it is a top 5 matchup, against their biggest rival, and in Columbus – it’s bound to happen.
I, for one, am shocked that there are some controversial calls being made in a game played between a pair of top-5 Michigan/Ohio State teams in Columbus.
— Scott Bell (@sbell021) February 21, 2021
Charging calls have been consistent in the sense that one team consistently gets the calls and one team consistently does not.
— Scott Bell (@sbell021) February 21, 2021
Overall, it was a very solid first half by both teams. Both teams played like they deserve to be the #1 seed in the tournament come March.
At the break
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) February 21, 2021
UM 56.7% FG, 76.9% 3FG
Isaiah Livers 9P, 2R, 3A
Mike Smith 6P, 1R, 5A
Chaundee Brown, Jr 9P – 3 👌s
Eli Brooks 8P, 2 👌s#GoBlue 〽️🏀 pic.twitter.com/z6b1j3LfkR
And then the second half started. Both teams actually came out and missed some shots to start off the half; which isn’t surprising cause I don’t think anybody was expecting them to play the way they did in the first half all game. But it was still just as even as a matchup. OSU went on a 3 minute run with no points, which was followed by a 3 minute scoreless run by the Wolverines. Nonetheless, the second half was just as even as the first half was.
The main difference between the two teams that had a huge deciding factor, was that Michigan played better together as a team. Michigan had 19 assists and OSU had 11, it came down to the fact that nobody on the OSU team knew who would be taking the next shot for Michigan. Whereas, almost every shot attempt for OSU was either Duane Washington or E.J. Liddell. Don’t get me wrong, both of those players are very talented, but you can’t have that game plan against the best of the best teams, and expect to win down the stretch…must be some of that OSU education coming into action there.
A crucial play that I believe was the deciding factor in the game, was when #14 on OSU wanted to be fancy with it but instead lost them the game. Please enjoy this clip!
https://twitter.com/barstooluofm/status/1363578089658216449?s=21
If Michigan basketball hasn’t made the statement that Michigan is a basketball school instead of a football school, they sure did now. Michigan made a statement today, after all the critics saying that they haven’t played the good teams in the big team yet, they just took down the #4 team in the country ON THE ROAD! GO BLUE EVERYDAY!
IT’S GREAT TO BE A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE
— National Champions Barstool Blue (@BarstoolUofM) February 21, 2021
WHAT!
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) February 21, 2021
A!
GAME!#GoBlue 〽️🏀 pic.twitter.com/My53NwCC8m