Ohio State Skunks Michigan in Big Ten Semifinals

Ohio State is making Indianapolis a second home. For the second year in a row, and seventh time in 14 seasons, the Buckeyes are in the Big Ten Tournament Championship.

Ohio State will play Penn State this afternoon at 3:30 for the Big Ten Tournament Championship, thanks to a 68-61 victory over rival Michigan. The win over the Wolverines proves that sometimes life has its little bonuses. 

And sometimes, it's flat out kind.

The Buckeyes knocked out Michigan in last year's Big Ten Quarterfinals with an Evan Turner 40-foot swish as time expired, for a thrilling 69-68 victory. Turner's miraculous shot, which came after in-bounding the ball with just over 2 seconds remaining, was only necessary because Manny Harris made a go-ahead jumper with 3 seconds left. 

En route to their third Big Ten Championship all-time, second officially, the Buckeyes followed up their thrilling win by beating Illinois in overtime before clobbering Minnesota 90-61 in the finals. 

On Saturday, Ohio State didn't need any entertaining finishes or highlight buzzer-beaters. They did, however, add a little more drama than necessary.

Ahead 47-45 with just under 10 minutes remaining, the Buckeyes went on an authoritative 16-0 run over the next five minutes to seemingly put the game out of reach. However, missed shots, turnovers and missed free throws sparked a 16-2 run for Michigan, which closed the Wolverines to within 65-61 with 21 seconds left. 

Finally, the Buckeyes iced the game at the free throw line over the last few possessions, getting Ohio State past the pesky Michigan--who now looks like a good bet for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Jon Diebler led a balanced attack for the Buckeyes with 16 points. Freshman Jared Sullinger added 14 points and 13 rebounds while William Buford also chipped in with 14 points for Ohio State, who appears to be destined for a No. 1-seed and appearance in Cleveland for their first two tournament games.

Despite beating Michigan all three times this season, the game was another sign that some competitive fire has been restored to the Wolverine program. All three games were tight, and this particular match-up got a little chippy on multiple occasions. At one point, Buford had to be separated from forward Jordan Morgan for taking issue with what he believed to be gratuitous contact with Sullinger. 

Most notably for Ohio State was the role played by freshmen DeShaun Thomas and Jordan Sibert. In the first half, Buckeye defensive stalwarts Aaron Craft and David Lighty were both saddled with two fouls. Thomas and Sibert were called upon for a combined 32 minutes total, including a key stretch over the last 10 minutes of the second half that resulted in a 31-27 lead at half.

With Michigan down and out, the Buckeyes turn their attention to Penn State--whom they beat 82-61 less than two weeks ago on the road. Diebler hit 10-of-12 from 3-point range in that game, spoiling Senior Night for the Nittany Lions and derailing a possible NCAA Tournament bid. However, with three consecutive wins in the Big Ten Tournament, including Wisconsin and Michigan State, Penn State is suddenly also making a fantastic case for an at-large bid if their quest for an automatic falls short this afternoon.

Talor Battle scored 22 points Saturday in a 61-48 win against the Spartans. Meanwhile, for Michigan, Darius Morris led the Wolverines with 16 points in a losing cause. 

The Buckeyes are now 7-0 all-time in the Big Ten semifinals. They're 3-3 in the championship, unofficially, though one of those wins were vacated. The Buckeyes now have the most championship appearances in the 14-year history of the tournament, passing Illinois who also has six. This is Penn State's first showing in the tournament's final round.