Wolverines to Close Out Regular Season at No. 23 Ohio State

» Michigan closes its regular season on Sunday (March 6) against No. 23 Ohio State at Value City Arena.
» Hunter Dickinson has had 13 straight double-figure games with seven of his 13 20-plus point games.
» The Maize and Blue will play its ninth game against a nationally ranked foe -- all in the Big Ten.
» U-M fell to No. 16 Ohio State at Crisler Center, 68-57, earlier this season (Feb. 12), which was the Wolverines' fourth game in an eight-day stretch.

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The University of Michigan men's basketball team will play its regular season finale, traveling to Columbus, Ohio and No. 23-ranked Ohio State on Sunday, March 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:37 p.m. with the game broadcast on the FOX with Gus Johnson (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analyst) on the call.

The Scene Setter

• Michigan plays its regular season finale at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio before heading to Indianapolis, Ind. for the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• U-M has closed the regular season playing four games in eight days. It is the second time this year that the Wolverines have had a similar stretch.
• Hunter Dickinson leads U-M in scoring (18.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). He has had 13-straight double-figure games with seven of his 13 20-plus point games, including his career-best 33 points in the win over Michigan State (March 3).
• With 22 buckets over his last two games, Dickinson surpassed 200 field goals (211) on the season -- the 48th time a Wolverine has done so in program history.
• After back-to-back four-block games, Dickinson's 81 career blocks cracked U-M's top 15 (14th). His 41 this season is tied for the 21st most in a single season.
• DeVante' Jones needs three rebounds for 600, 15 steals for 200, 27 points for 1,600 and 27 assists for 500 for his collegiate career.
• With a team-best 53 three-pointers to date, Caleb Houstan is the first freshman to lead the team from long range since Ignas Brazdeikis (2018-19; 56). The last Wolverines to drain 60-plus was Moritz Wagner (63; 2017-18).

Another Year, Another Strong Schedule

• Michigan continues to play one of the nation's strongest schedules, ranking among the top 10 in most sites: NCAA Net (8th), KenPom (6th), Sagarin (1st), ESPN BPI (5th) and KPI (2nd).
• U-M has played 14 road games this year, going 6-8. If you add in U-M's preseason scrimmage at DePaul and an exhibition at Wayne State, U-M has had 16 road trips out of 29 total games this season.
• U-M's schedule ranking is so high due to a strong Big Ten Conference. The list of Big Ten teams ranked in KenPom's strongest schedules includes Michigan (6th), Michigan State (11th), Wisconsin (13th), Illinois (16th), Ohio State (18th), Minnesota (20th), Penn State (22nd), Maryland (26th), Nebraska (28th), Northwestern (32nd) and Purdue (34th).

Earlier This Season against OSU

• Eli Brooks recorded his 1,000th career point, and DeVante' Jones nearly posted a triple-double, however Michigan fell, 68-57, to No. 16 Ohio State at Crisler Center (Feb 12).
• After upsetting No. 3 Purdue just two days prior, the Wolverines found themselves playing their fourth game in eight days and struggled to see the ball go through the net in the second half. On the other end, E.J. Liddell's 28 points led Ohio State as the Buckeyes shot 50 percent and were 16-for-18 from the free throw line.
• Brooks' 17 points helped him become the 56th Wolverine to reach 1,000 career points, and he added four rebounds and five assists in the effort. In his 100th career start, Jones nearly had a triple-double with eight points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Hunter Dickinson posted 14 points with seven rebounds on the night.

The No. 23 Ohio State Buckeyes

• No. 23 Ohio State has gone 4-3 since playing the Wolverines in mid-February at Crisler. After a 78-70 loss to Nebraska two games ago (March 1), the Buckeyes rebounded with an 80-69 victory over Michigan State (March 3).
• After rescheduled games due to covid-19 protocols, OSU has played its last six games over the last 13 days.
• OSU averages 74.2 points, 34.6 rebounds and 13.0 assists per game. Nearly 43 percent of the Buckeye offense comes via the long range bucket (611-of-1538 shots).
• Ohio State is led by Big Ten and National Player of the Year candidate E.J. Liddell. With 28 consecutive double-figure games, he leads the Buckeye offense with 19.5 points per game. He has 12 games of 20-plus points including a season-best 34 against Northwestern (Jan. 9). He adds a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game and has 73 assists (2.6 apg) and 73 blocks (2.6 bpg) along with seven double-doubles.
• Liddell is shooting 49.7% from the floor and is tied for the team-best with 41 three-pointers (38.0 percent). Lastly, he has 184 trips to the free throw line, more than doubling of the next closest Buckeye (Malaki Branha, 81).
• Freshman and Columbus native Malaki Branham, who has started 27 of 28 games, has burst onto the scene and is averaging 13.1 points a night. He has 15 double-digit games, including his last seven games. He scored a career-best 35 at Nebraska (Jan. 2) when he knocked down six of his 33 three-pointers. He adds 3.6 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game.
• Down low for the Buckeyes, Zed Key has averaged 8.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and is shooting 56.5 percent. Taking advantage of the NCAA's extra season, Kyle Young is back and has averaged 8.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, while shooting 51.9 percent.
• In their 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, the Buckeyes have made 10 trips to the Final Four and won the national title in 1960.

Up Next

Wed-Sun., March 9-13 -- at Big Ten Tournament (Gainbridge Fieldhouse), Dates/Times TBD