2014-15 ohio state #1

File photo, but whatever. [Patrick Barron/MGoBlog]

Shannon Scott pickpocketed Zak Irvin in the backcourt after a lazy crossover. Caris LeVert tossed an inbounds pass directly to an awaiting Buckeye, not even bothering to look at his intended target.

Michigan's top two scorers spent much of the second half on the bench, not because they weren't needed—the Wolverines were, in fact, getting blown out—but because whatever minuscule chance of a win they'd give the team wasn't worth John Beilein not sending a message. This team would've had a hard enough time upsetting the Buckeyes with everything clicking; instead, after some hot shooting from Irvin kept M in it early, sloppy mistake after sloppy mistake compounded the familiar offensive woes that have plagued this team for much of the season.

Lengthy scoring droughts in both halves led to OSU doubling up Michigan early in the second half, and even the final 19-point margin wasn't representative of the gap between the two teams for most of the game. Before M even scored a point in the second half, they trotted out a lineup of Derrick Walton, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Aubrey Dawkins, Kam Chatman, and Max Bielfeldt. It was no longer a contest, but a learning experience.

Let's hope the lesson sticks, because that was hard to watch.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Don't mock me, Thad. [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]

THE STAKES

This game is all about upside for Michigan, as nobody really expects them to win this one: Ohio State is 100-9 at home since 2009-10, the Wolverines haven't exactly impressed even during their back-to-back wins, and both KenPom and Vegas have the Buckeyes favored by ten.

Pull off the upset, though, and Michigan would suddenly have a signature win while sitting, however briefly, alone atop the conference standings. (Wisconsin, Maryland, and Michigan State don't play tonight.) To get to 12 conference wins—the likely target number for an NCAA bid—they're going to have to pull out an unlikely win or two, and this would certainly qualify.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.	#	Name	Yr.	Ht./Wt.	%Min	%Poss	SIBMIHHAT
G	3	Shannon Scott	Sr.	6'1, 185	74	21	Yes
Great defender, facilitates offense well, still not much of a shooter.
G	0	D'Angelo Russell	Fr.	6'5, 180	79	29	No
Volume scorer. Great outside shooter, even off dribble. Solid passer, too.
F	12	Sam Thompson	Sr.	6'7, 200	73	17	Yes
Ridiculous hops. Very good finisher. Not a good shooter.
F	2	Marc Loving	So.	6'7, 215	63	20	No
50% at both 2P and 3P. Gets to line. Underwhelming rebounder.
C	23	Amir Williams	Sr.	6'11, 250	46	17	Very
Effective finisher, good rebounder, blocks lots of shots. Turnover-prone.
F	1	Jae'Sean Tate	Fr.	6'4, 190	43	20	Yes
Excellent on the boards, good finisher, active defender. Turnover-prone.
G	15	Kam Williams	Fr.	6'2, 175	40	18	No
Efficient scorer sticks mostly to spot-up threes.
C	55	Trey McDonald	Sr.	6'8, 240	28	16	Very
Very good rebounder, especially on offense. Decent rim protector.

THE RESUME

The Buckeyes dropped just two non-conference games, both to top-ten teams, falling at #9 Louisville and dropping a neutral-court game to #9 UNC. They played the rest of their non-conference schedule at home and won every game handily, though the top-ranked team they beat was #95 Marquette.

They're off to just a 2-2 start to Big Ten play. OSU lost their opener at home to Iowa when freshman phenom D'Angelo Russell had a rough day from the field and the defense turned in an uncharacteristically poor performance. After a blowout home victory over Illinois and a thrilling overtime triumph at Minnesota, they fell by three points at Indiana on Saturday when, once again, Russell went cold.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]