The Michigan Wolverines look to keep their hopes alive for a Big Ten regular season title when they host the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night.
Crisler Arena should be rocking as the conference-leading Buckeyes come to town just one game ahead of Michigan in the standings. Technically, Michigan State maintains the conference lead with a tie-breaker advantage over Ohio State, but with five conference games remaining, a win today would put Michigan in great position to sneak in and take the top spot by the end of the season.
Michigan will have to play far better than they did in Columbus three weeks ago when Ohio State used a balanced attack and a big game from Lenzelle Smith Jr. to run past the Wolverines, 64-49. The Buckeyes also exposed their front-court advantage in that game, outrebounding Michigan, 37-22.
Michigan will need to minimize the rebound deficit this time around while getting a big effort from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke in front of the hostile home fans.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:00 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN.
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