ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With the taste of a Legends Classic blowout loss lingering in their mouths, the Wolverines were searching for a remedy.
A home game against Mid-American Conference foe Ohio seemed like a much-needed elixir.
While it wasn’t pretty and far from easy, No. 20 Michigan made enough plays late in regulation and in overtime to claw out a 70-66 win on Sunday at Crisler Center.
Junior center Hunter Dickinson led the way with 24 points and 14 rebounds, freshman wing Jett Howard added 13 points and grad transfer guard Jaelin Llewellyn scored 10 for Michigan (4-1), which was outrebounded 49-46 and shot 38.1% from the field (24-for-63).
Dwight Wilson scored 21, Jaylin Hunter 14, and Miles Brown 11 for Ohio (1-3). The Bobcats shot 7-for-28 from 3-point range and turned 19 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points, including an offensive putback that beat the buzzer and forced overtime.
The Wolverines took control early in overtime with a Dickinson bucket in the paint and a Howard 3-pointer to grab a 68-63 lead at the 3:47 mark of the extra period.
Ohio, meanwhile, missed its first seven shots of overtime before Wilson converted a three-point play that made it a one-possession game, 68-66, with 1:09 to play.
After Llewellyn split a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game, Ohio had a chance to tie it. But Ben Roderick was fouled with five seconds left and missed the front end of a one-and-one. Junior forward Terrance Williams II grabbed the rebound and split two free throws and Ohio last-second heave was off the mark.
After seizing the momentum and the lead late in the first half on a dominant stretch from Dickinson, the Wolverines couldn’t tame the Bobcats. Michigan created some breathing room with back-to-back 3-pointers from Williams and Llewellyn to make it 41-35 with 16:11 remaining.
The Bobcats clawed back with an 18-5 run that featured two deep balls from Roderick – the first coming off a turnover and the second following an offensive rebound – to grab a 47-45 lead with 12:48 remaining.
Michigan briefly answered with a Dickinson dunk off a pick-and-roll play to even it, but Ohio kept attacking and capped the spurt with four baskets in or around the paint to go up, 55-48, at the 8:29 mark.
The Wolverines couldn’t get much going on offense, slogging through a 1-for-10 shooting stretch, until sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin hit a jumper and Williams followed with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 57-55 with 5:20 to play.
Wilson countered with back-to-back baskets, including a high-arcing baseline shot over Dickinson, to make it a six-point game with four minutes to go. From there, Michigan got enough stops and made enough plays down the stretch.
The Wolverines responded with a free throw from Llewellyn and a 3-pointer from Howard to pull within 61-59. Then Bufkin made up for missing the front end of a one-and-one with a driving layup to tie it at 61 with 1:09 to play.
After forcing a shot clock violation on Ohio’s ensuing possession, Bufkin turned the ball over on an errant pass. The Bobcats had a shot to win it in the closing seconds, but Hunter’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim and Bufkin made up for his turnover by corralling the rebound while being fouled with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Bufkin canned both, and Ohio made the most of its last chance, heaving a full-court pass that hit the side of the rim and caromed right to Roderick. After his attempt missed, Wilson was right there to beat the clock with a putback and force overtime.
