Columbus, Ohio — The Wolverines ended the week the same way they started it — with a regular-season series sweep.
Three days after beating Penn State for the second time in Big Ten play, No. 2 Michigan repeated the feat and swept the home-and-home series with rival Ohio State.
What made Sunday’s 82-61 wire-to-wire victory over the Buckeyes at Value City Arena even sweeter is that it moved the Wolverines into sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
BOX SCORE: Michigan 82, Ohio State 61
Aday Mara scored a career-high 24 points and made the first two 3-pointers of his college career and Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg each added a double-double for Michigan (22-1, 12-1 Big Ten), which has won eight straight, improved to 11-0 in games away from home and extended its best start in program history.
“They’re a good team, but they don’t belong in the same conversation as us,” said Lendeborg, who finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. “We had a real big opportunity to put the world on notice that we’re serious about this, and we’re not going to get big-headed just because we’re at the top right now.”
In the first rivalry meeting in Ann Arbor last month, Michigan pulled away late for a 12-point victory. In the rematch, it didn’t take the Wolverines nearly as long to build a comfortable double-digit cushion that they maintained.
After grabbing a 10-point halftime lead thanks to its offensive rebounding and 3-point shooting, Michigan added to its margin with some highlight-reel plays. Mara found a cutting Lendeborg for a thunderous one-handed dunk. A few possessions later, Mara skied for a one-handed alley-oop slam from Elliot Cadeau.
During another sequence, Lendeborg blocked a shot at the rim that triggered a fast break and ended with Johnson throwing down a two-handed dunk. That put Michigan up, 54-39, with 15:09 left.
The Buckeyes couldn’t get much going against Michigan’s defense to chip away at the deficit. They missed 10 of their first 12 shots out of the break, with nobody other than Bruce Thornton making a basket. They mustered just nine points over the first 10 minutes. They had a scoreless stretch that lasted over four minutes.
It also didn’t help that Ohio State (15-8, 7-6) had no answer for Mara. When the Buckeyes cut the deficit to 11 at the 14:13 mark, he promptly responded with a pair of baskets at the rim to push Michigan’s lead back to 15.
“Get the ball to Aday,” Lendeborg said of Michigan’s improved efficiency around the rim in the second half. “Aday pretty much set the tone in the second half with his finishing, his aggressiveness and his ability to will his way into the paint against the defense.
“(We were) staying composed and trying to dominate as much as we can.”
That 11-point margin ended up being the closest Ohio State would get before Michigan poured it on late. Trey McKenney made a corner 3-pointer. Lendeborg grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Mara threw down two more dunks to top his previous career high of 22 points, which he set last season at UCLA.
A 14-3 spurt gave Michigan a 78-55 lead with 2:45 to go, sparked “Let’s Go Blue!” chants from the Michigan fans and sent the Ohio State faithful streaming to the exits.
Johnson finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds and McKenney scored 12 for Michigan, which shot 45.8% from the field and made 10 3-pointers. The Wolverines won the rebounding battle by a 44-31 margin, finished with a 42-20 advantage in paint points and outscored Ohio State 10-0 in fast-break points.
Thornton scored 16 on 16 shots, Devin Royal added 15 points on 12 shots and Christoph Tilly scored 10 for Ohio State. John Mobley Jr., who scored 22 in the first loss to Michigan on Jan. 23, was held to four points and made just one basket.
It all led to the Buckeyes shooting a season-low 36.4% from the field for the game and 32% during a 27-point second half. The 61 points were also a season low — one point fewer than they scored in the first meeting against Michigan.
“I thought our approach, our discipline was as good as it’s been this year, especially against a program and group that we really respect,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “You could tell our guys’ antennas were up to rise to the challenge on Thornton, Mobley and Royal. That 1-2-3 combination is probably as good as any in the league.
“I thought we did a really nice job of staying down on shot fakes and making them score over bodies. On a night when we make shots, we’re pretty tough to beat if we can be that disciplined and shoot well from 3.”
The Wolverines dominated on the glass and in the paint in the early stages. Johnson scored twice at the rim, including one sequence when he grabbed three of his own misses before scoring. Mara threw down an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Cadeau and a putback jam off a missed shot by Johnson.
The bench kept the trend going. L.J. Cason snuck into the paint, scooped up the loose ball for an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to give Michigan an 18-11 lead with 12:03 left in the first half.
A combination of Thornton heating up for Ohio State and a stretch when the Wolverines couldn’t convert more second-chance opportunities at the rim allowed the Buckeyes to pull close. Thornton made three consecutive baskets — two shots in the lane and a scooping layup — and assisted on another as Ohio State cut it to 21-19 at the 8:30 mark.
Michigan caught fire from deep to push its advantage to double digits for good. Lendeborg kicked off the stretch of five 3-pointers in less than four minutes with an open look from the corner. Not long after that, Mara knocked down the first deep ball of his collegiate career from the left wing.
“It feels good, man,” said Mara, who had attempted four 3-pointers this season before Sunday. “After three years without making a 3, I know it’s in my game. I just have to get that confidence back. I’m happy that I was able to help the team.”
Nimari Burnett and Cason followed Mara’s make with a long-range shot of their own. Mara buried a second 3-pointer from straightaway to make it 38-28 with 4:00 left.
Cason made Michigan’s ninth 3-pointer in the final minute to make it a 12-point lead before the Wolverines entered the break with a 44-34 advantage that the Buckeyes never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
“Every game there’s matchups … and I don’t think we’re a good matchup for Ohio State,” May said. “I do think that’s a big part of our success against Ohio State is simply it’s a good matchup for us because of the way we’re built.”
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
@jamesbhawkins
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