National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio St. 77, Michigan 55
When: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, March 10, 2012
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Michael Kitts, # Gene Steratore, # Terry Wymer
Attendance: 18451

Ohio State 77, Michigan 55: Jared Sullinger scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half as the No. 7 Buckeyes routed the No. 13 Wolverines in the semifinal round of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.

Ohio State (27-6) never trailed en route to its eighth straight tournament victory and will make its fourth consecutive championship game appearance on Sunday. The Buckeyes have won two straight Big Ten titles and will face top-seed Michigan State.

Deshaun Thomas added 22 points for the Buckeyes, who improved to 19-8 all-time at the Big Ten tournament and have defeated Michigan (24-9) each of the six times the arch-rivals have met in the conference tournament.

Sullinger and Thomas scored 14 of Ohio State’s first 16 points. The Buckeyes used their frontcourt’s size and athletic advantage early and often in the first half, forcing the Wolverines to miss seven straight shots over a 6:44 stretch. Ohio State scored 12 unanswered points to establish a 16-3 lead.

The Wolverines never got closer than nine points the rest of the way as the Buckeyes put the game away with a 10-3 run to open the second half to open up a 44-24 advantage.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 13 points and was just one of two players to finish in double figures for Michigan. The Wolverines shot a season-low 30.9 percent en route to their third-worst offensive output of the season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sullinger nearly surpassed his season averages of 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games against the Wolverines with 16 points and six rebounds in the first half alone. … Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year Trey Burke, who scored a career-high 30 points in Friday’s overtime win over Minnesota, committed eight turnovers and did not convert his first field goal until the 6:55 mark of the second half. He finished 1 of 11 from the field for just five points.
Top Game Performances
 
Ohio St.   Michigan
Jared Sullinger 24 Scoring Tim Hardaway, Jr. 13
Aaron Craft 4 Assists Trey Burke 4
Lenzelle Smith Jr. 6 Rebounds Trey Burke 7
Jared Sullinger 6 Free Throws Made Tim Hardaway, Jr. 7
Aaron Craft 3 Steals Trey Burke 2
Jared Sullinger 2 Blocks Blake McLimans 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Ohio St. 77 49.2 5-14 10-14 14 34 7 11 11
Michigan 55 30.9 4-25 17-22 7 35 2 6 18