2015-16 ohio state

Sunday, March 7th, 2016

Ohio State 6, #6 Michigan 5 (OT)

1st period

Joshua goal, Ohio State

OSU 1 UM 0 PPG 10:15 Assists: Brevig

Joshua gets the puck on the wing and cuts to the middle. There’s a 2-on-1 opportunity and he tries to force the pass through the defender, but it bounces off of him…and right back to Joshua.

Joshua fires a perfect shot just under the bar. Racine read pass and started to push across, but he course-corrects and drops to the ice when he sees a shot coming. He pulls his blocker up but doesn’t get a piece of the puck.

Kearney goal, Ohio State

OSU 2 UM 0 EV 15:45 Assists: Dalrymple & Parran

Kearney cuts to the slot with Cecconi draped all over him. He skates through the outstretched stick…

and is able to pull the puck under while flipping his stick over. Racine hit the ice too early and is now forced to try and poke check the puck away.

Kearney can’t get back to the puck until he’s at a very sharp angle, and even then he’s only able to throw the puck horizontally across the crease thanks to Racine’s outstretched leg and Cecconi’s stick. The puck hits Racine’s skate and goes in because that’s just the kind of weekend it was.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest]

Friday, March 4th, 2016

#6 Michigan 4, Ohio State 7

1st period

COMPHER GOAL, MICHIGAN

UM 1 OSU 0 PPG 03:41 Assists: Motte & Connor

Connor picks up a loose puck along the boards and gets hit. Both players spin for the puck, with their blades connecting at the same time. The puck rolls ahead, and Connor gains possession again.

Connor somehow pulls the puck across the defender’s face in the tightest of spaces, and he then throws a backhanded pass to Motte.

Motte catches it on his backhand and stickhandles for a few seconds to buy time. With only one defender low, he just has to wait for someone to head toward the net to create a 2-on-1. He sees Compher skating in, and the defender seems to as well: he drops his stick to take away the passing lane and seems to do a pretty good job until Motte fires a pass that somehow gets under the stick.

The puck’s already off Compher’s stick and Frey’s halfway to getting across to square to Compher. That’s not going to work.

Frey sees that the puck’s rising and going away from the direction that he is, so he tries to jump off his right leg and stick out his left pad and glove. He misses, but when you’re already sliding across the crease and the puck’s headed to the far side, might as well try a Karate Kid stop on the off chance one of the flailing limbs gets a piece of the puck.

[After THE JUMP: It kind of felt like a four-goal shutout]

Yeah, OK, that's a problem. ESPN doesn't get it sometimes. pic.twitter.com/7U1En2iCjn

— Tony Paul (@TonyPaul1984) February 17, 2016

Michigan lost to Ohio State in basketball tonight. ESPN said so. It must be true.

ESPN, forgetting that cameras, unlike humans, are equipped with a zoom function, decided to show us the entire game from the floor. It's an understatement to say the experiment failed. I'm mostly incapable of telling you what went on. If you attended the game, feel free to help us out in the comments.

Did this shot go in? I HAVE NO IDEA pic.twitter.com/62uLqsW0Ui

— Sarah (@sarbucks) February 17, 2016

Ohio State was able to get inside on Michigan. That much I can tell you because the Buckeyes were obscured by other players, not the officials. The box score tells me they had 38 points in the paint. JaeSean Tate led the way with 13 points and made 6/8 two-pointers; center Trevor Thompson, not normally a major factor on offense, had 12 on 6/7 FGs.

Michigan had a difficult time doing the same. I know this because the Wolverines were obscured by the officials, not other players. Unless, of course, they were on the far side of the court, and then they were obscured by everyone. The box score tells me they were 5/24 on three-pointers. Zak Irvin, Duncan Robinson, and Derrick Walton were a combined 4/18 from beyond the arc. The only consistent performer on offense was Mark Donnal (17 points, 6/10 FG, 5/7 FT, 7 REB), who still relied on the rare successful foray to the hoop by a Wolverine to attain most of his points. 

Moments like this really make my flatscreen HD TV worth it. https://t.co/345ip2TXTU

— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) February 17, 2016

What not even ESPN's Worst Idea Since Jason Whitlock could obscure was how much better Ohio State's offense functioned than Michigan's, and also how poor the Wolverines performed on defense. When the Buckeyes weren't bulling their way into the paint, they were breaking open off curl-cuts for easy jumpers. Michigan never got in a rhythm, couldn't get all the way to the basket, and didn't find ways to get their shooters open.

Believe it or not, I just ran into one of ESPN camerawomen in the bathroom. She said that she can't pan without hitting anyone...

— Kelly Hall (@KellyHall20) February 17, 2016

Michigan missed their best chance to pull an upset and all but secure an NCAA Tournament bid. They'll get another shot on Sunday at Maryland. Even from butt-level, it's apparent the Wolverines will have to raise their level of play substantially this weekend.