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U-M Pulls Away in Second Half to Topple OSU on Burke Jersey Honoring Night
1/23/2026 11:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
• Special Press Conferences: Trey Burke | John Beilein
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The third-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team defeated the Buckeyes, 74-62, on Friday night (Jan. 23) at Crisler Center. The contest stayed within two possessions until the 6:30 mark of the second half, with 12 lead changes, until the Wolverines pulled ahead by double digits with 4:52 left. The night was highlighted by a special ceremony honoring Michigan legend Trey Burke, as his iconic No. 3 jersey was raised to the rafters in Crisler Center.
Leaders and Best
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 18 points to lead the Wolverines, his highest total since scoring 29 at Maryland on Dec. 13. He added nine rebounds (six offensive), four assists and three steals. Morez Johnson Jr. scored 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting, and Trey McKenney also scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Aday Mara was the final double-digit scorer for the Wolverines with 11 points and six rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-digit performance.
Second Half
Ohio State opened with a basket on its first possession to cut the Michigan lead to 33-32. Lendeborg drew fouls on consecutive trips down the court but converted just one of the four free throws, allowing the Buckeyes to retake the lead 22 seconds later, 37-34. OSU forced an early Michigan timeout with 17:31 left after its 8-0 run in under a minute and a half put the visitors ahead 40-34. Johnson made a spinning layup out of the timeout for the Maize and Blue's first bucket of the second half and started an 11-0 U-M run to push its lead to 45-40 at the 14:57 mark.
A six-point swing by the Buckeyes off a pair of three-pointers put OSU ahead 46-45 before Roddy Gayle Jr. ended the short run with a jumper to put the home team up one, 47-46, with 11:43 to go. A McKenny technical free throw was followed by an L.J. Cason off-balance layup, his second basket of the night to give the Wolverines a 50-48 advantage. Mara converted two free throws before another Elliot Cadeau deep three, giving U-M a three-possession lead, 60-51, for the first time in the game with 6:30 left to play. Two minutes later, Lendeborg drove through the lane off a turnover and made a floater to build the first double-digit lead, 66-56, and forced an Ohio State timeout.
Mara stole the ball off the inbound, leading to a McKenney three on the other end. It was Michigan's third made three in its last four attempts. The Wolverines scored three points over the next three minutes, all on three pointers, a streak ended by a Lendeborg driving baseline slam from the right side with 51 seconds remaining. The dunk capped the game's scoring and secured the U-M victory.
First Half
Michigan won the tip and Cadeau lobbed to Mara, who finished with a dunk six seconds into the contest to get the Wolverines going early. After the defense forced a turnover a minute later, Nimari Burnett hit a three-pointer from the right corner. Mara picked up a block on the other end to protect the early 5-4 lead. Off the bench, Gayle found himself filling the box score early after a block against his former team, followed by a Lendeborg jumper from Cadeau, put U-M ahead 9-6 before the under-16-minute timeout.
A rare Wolverine mid-range jumper from Lendeborg came after Ohio State was assessed a dead-ball technical foul. Michigan's perimeter defense forced three consecutive three-point misses, and Ohio State did not make a three-pointer until the 10:38 mark. The three sparked a 6-0 Buckeye run in under a minute to move into the lead at 20-14. McKenney ended a nearly three-minute field goal drought with a jumper with 9:28 left in the first half, keeping it a two-possession game, 20-16. The Maize and Blue found itself in the bonus by the under-eight timeout.
Lendeborg made a triple with 7:27 left from the left corner. Just 90 seconds later, the Lendeborg-Gayle combo added to the highlight reel with the night's second alley-oop. Michigan made four straight field goals; the streak was capped by the game's third tip-jam, this one assisted by Lendeborg to Johnson, and gave Michigan a 28-26 lead, its first in nine and a half minutes, with 3:17 left in the half. With the game tied at 30 with 45 seconds to play, Mara made a free throw, and Cason scored due to a goaltending violation to take a 33-30 lead at the half.
What's Next
The Wolverines conclude their three-game homestand next Tuesday (Jan. 27) against No. 7 Nebraska. Tipoff at 7 p.m, and the game will be streamed live on Peacock.
Notes
• Burke became the sixth Wolverine to have his jersey honored inside Crisler Center, joining Michigan legends Cazzie Russell (No. 33, Dec. 11, 1993), Rudy Tomjanovich (No. 45, Feb. 8, 2003), Phil Hubbard (No. 35, Jan. 11, 2004), Glen Rice (No. 41, Feb. 20, 2005) and Bill Buntin (No. 22, Jan. 7, 2006). Of that group, Russell's No. 33 remains the lone number officially retired by the program.
• Burke, a Columbus, Ohio, native, played two seasons in Ann Arbor (2011-13), establishing himself as one of the most decorated players in program history. A starter in all 73 games of his career, he averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while leading U-M to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, capped by the 2013 run to the national championship game.
• Michigan pulled ahead 13-12 against OSU since Burke joined the program before the 2011-12 season. Four of the 13 wins have been by double digits, the first since Jan. 19, 2019. U-M has wins in five of the last six contests dating back to its upset victory to end the 2021-22 regular season.
• Lendeborg, Johnson and Mara each scored in double digits for the fifth time this season. The trio averages 39 points per game and 42.5 percent of the team's points.
• The Wolverines have now shot 50.0 percent or better in consecutive games. The longest streak this season has been four games. U-M has shot 50.0 or better in 10 games this season.
• Mara has at least one block in each game this season, with three or more in each of his last four games, and averages 2.7 blocks per game.
• Michigan is the first Ohio State opponent since Dec. 9, 2023, to record 10 steals or more in a game. Tonight was Michigan's fourth performance of double-digit steals this season.
• If Nebraska and Michigan remain in the top 10 of next week's AP poll, it will be the first top 10 matchup at Crisler Center since March 2, 2021, when No. 4 Illinois visited No. 2 Michigan.
