Notes & Quotes: Michigan 80, Ohio State 70
2/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
N O T E S
Michigan's 80-70 win over Ohio State extends the Wolverine's Big Ten winning streak to three after victories over Penn State (68-63, Feb. 9), at Iowa (60-52, Feb. 14) and against the Buckeyes. It is the first time this season Michigan has won three consecutive games.
Michigan's 80-70 victory over Ohio State marks the Maize and Blue's first win over the Buckeyes since Feb. 29, 2004 when U-M defeated OSU 75-64 in Ann Arbor. It snapped a seven-game streak for the Maize and Blue.
Today's game against Ohio State marked Michigan's first sellout of the year with 13,751 tickets sold. U-M's last sellout at Crisler Arena was also against the Buckeyes in last season's Big Ten conference finale (March 3, 2007).
U-M's last two wins -- at Iowa (Feb. 14) and against Ohio State -- have been against teams that beat the Wolverines earlier in the season. Michigan earned a road win over the Hawkeyes after dropping a 68-60 decision at Crisler Arena (Jan. 19) and defeated the Buckeyes after falling 65-55 in Columbus (Feb. 5).
After defeating Ohio State 80-70 at Crisler Arena, Michigan has a 5-0 record on the season when scoring 70 points or better. The Wolverines earned wins over Radford (Nov. 9), Brown (Nov. 11), Oakland (Dec. 12) at Northwestern (Jan. 12) and against Ohio State.
University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the sellout crowd at Crisler Arena as part of Sunday's halftime festivities. Rodriguez introduced his family, his coaching staff, former Michigan football letter winners in the crowd and discussed his outlook regarding the 2008 U-M football season.
Michigan continued it's stellar free throw shooting to guide the team to victory, netting 20-of-24 at the line compared to Ohio State's 2-of-3. Manny Harris led U-M with 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, marking the third time this season he has recorded double-digit free throws.
Michigan's 10-of-24 from long range marks U-M's fourth game this season hitting double-digit three-point shots. Wolverines who hit shots from beyond the arc were DeShawn Sims (4), Manny Harris (3), Kelvin Grady (1), Anthony Wright (1) and David Merritt (1).
Michigan had a pair of 20-point scorers in Manny Harris (27) and DeShawn Sims (22), marking the ninth time this season the Wolverines have had a player net 20 points or more. Harris' career-best 27 points accounted for his seventh 20-point performance of the year.
With his start against Ohio State, Ekpe Udoh has extended his consecutive games streak to 60. He has not missed a single game in two years and has 24 career starts for the Maize and Blue including 17 this season.
Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims remain the only Wolverines to start in each of Michigan's 25 games this season.
With a career-best 27 points against the Buckeyes, Manny Harris posted his 22nd double-digit scoring performance in 25 games this season. His previous best in points was 26, which he set at Wisconsin (Jan. 22).
With season-best-tying six blocks against the Buckeyes, Ekpe Udoh has recorded 21 multi-block games this season and has had at least one block in 24-of-25 games. Udoh currently has 76 blocks on the year to lead the Big Ten. Overall he has 143 blocks in two seasons and ranks sixth all-time.
Ekpe Udoh's four steals against the Buckeyes marked a career best. Udoh's previous best was two, which he set at Michigan State (Jan. 27) and matched at Ohio State (Feb. 5).
Anthony Wright recorded one triple against Ohio State to extend his streak of consecutive games with a three-point basket to six. He currently has 23 on the season.
David Merritt was a catalyst off the bench for the Wolverines, setting numerous career bests: points (7), field goals (3), field goal attempts (5), assists (4) and minutes played (27).
Kelvin Grady set career bests in free throws and attempts, hitting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Grady set his previous bests when he went 4-of-4 from the free throw line at Northwestern (Jan. 12).
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach John Beilein
On the game ... "Like last Saturday, there is an excitement about coming to the game. People enjoy themselves and know it's a growth process that we're going through. Sending the fans home with a loss is real disappointing. To be able to do this and send everyone home with a win, and to keep them coming back, is going to be key for our program. So I'm happy [to get the win]. It's not a win over a top 25-team, but [Ohio State] is going to be on the bubble all year long. They may be in the NCAA tournament, so we are taking a step in the right direction."
On the team coming together ... "I think that we settled into our player rotations and that we created a certain confidence and swagger after the Penn State win. As a coach, there's magic when you see your team win. You watch them and can see that they're getting better in practice. The kids go in and know that their jump shot will fall and that their pass will work, plus they go with a bit more effort on defense."
U-M Sophomore Forward Ekpe Udoh
On being a defensive presence... "I am the captain of our defense and I feel like that it's my duty to perform when I am out on the court."
On Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims ... "They played great. They are capable of playing that way every game. They had a look in their eyes that made them unstoppable. We just had to get them the ball as much as possible and let them create."
On what has come together over the past few weeks... "We are finally starting to understand what we have to do to get to where we want to be. We are playing together."
On beating Ohio State... "We wanted it bad. We haven't beaten them in the past seven meetings. We just wanted to come out and get this win for the entire program."
U-M Sophomore Forward DeShawn Sims
On what is working for the team ... "After [the first Ohio State game], we really started to click and do some things that we had been lacking all season. Three wins in a row is big, but we are striving for more by working hard and practicing every day.
On closing the game ... "When you close games, it shows how tough your team is. Any team can be up at half time, but during the last five minutes is when you learn how tough your team really is."
On feeding off the Ohio State rivalry ... "It wasn't just because it was Ohio State, but we feel that we have gained a lot of confidence. We are just rolling right now. It's only a three-game streak, but we feel that we are accomplishing more as a team."
U-M Freshman Guard Manny Harris
On his career-high performance in scoring ... "We were able to find the gaps in their defense and make the open passes. I was able to knock down some threes today and the entire offense played well."
On the difference between the first contest against OSU ... "We played the whole 40 minutes this game. Last game we probably played 35 or 36 but we played the whole 40 this time. The team knew what it would take to get the win."
On DeShawn Sims ... "He is a great player and he was confident today. Every time that they gave him space, he shot it and he made it. Even if he misses, I' rather him shoot the ball because he is a great shooter"
