Jardy: 3 quick takeaways from Ohio State’s loss at Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Ohio State battled for about 32 minutes, but No. 3 Michigan had enough to pull away down the stretch and hand the Buckeyes a 74-62 defeat.

Here are three quick takeaways from Ohio State’s loss at Michigan:

Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr. needed more help

He’s been on a tear lately, and Ohio State’s sophomore guard was again up to the task against the Wolverines. He finished with a game-high 22 points, single-handedly helping the Buckeyes keep pace for much of the game, but got little help elsewhere.

Mobley was 9 for 17 from the field and 4 for 10 from 3 while the rest of the Buckeyes were just 4 for 17 from deep.

Michigan wore Ohio State down

With about eight minutes remaining, this game was anyone’s for the taking. Ohio State had battled Michigan to a 52-51 deficit with 8:09 to play when Elliot Cadeau buried a deep 3-pointer to make it a four-point game.

Ohio State couldn’t match Michigan as the Wolverines kicked it into another gear from there. It was still a four-point deficit with 7:13 to play, but Michigan was just getting warmed up. The Wolverines scored on seven straight possessions as part of a 19-4 run that made it 71-56 with 3:17 remaining and rendered the rest of the game academic. Ohio State simply looked out of gas.

Devin Royal, Bruce Thornton went missing

Two parts of Ohio State’s “Big Three” never really got going against the Wolverines. While Mobley’s shot making kept the Buckeyes in it and fueled their early runs, nobody else on the roster was able to consistently provide any further production to help him out.

Bruce Thornton had 10 points and nine rebounds but was only 3 for 11 from the field and 1 for 5 from deep before leaving with less than a minute left after getting his left ankle attended to. Devin Royal had 4 points on 2 of 7 shooting, missed all three of his 3-point attempts and had just one rebounds.

It wasn’t nearly enough to knock off the Wolverines.