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Ohio knocks off Michigan

Mar 17, 2012 - 4:38 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - D.J. Cooper scored 21 points and the 13th- seeded Ohio University Bobcats took down the fourth-seeded Michigan Wolverines, 65-60, in a second round Midwest Regional matchup.

Walter Offutt added 11 points for the Bobcats (28-7), who won the Mid-American Conference Tournament title game. Ivo Baltic and Reggie Keely each tallied 10 points.

Ohio, which is appearing in its 13th NCAA Tournament, will next do battle with South Florida in the third round on Sunday.

Trey Burke ended with 16 points for the Wolverines (24-10), who won a share of the Big Ten Conference's regular-season crown, their first since 1986. Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. donated 15 and 14 points, respectively.

"We obviously have a very disappointed locker room right now, but Ohio University, as you can see, is a very good team and they played a great game," Michigan head coach John Beilein said.

Despite trailing for most of the game, Burke kept Michigan in the game down the stretch. Burke scored his team's final 12 points to make things interesting.

He made a pair of three-pointers around Offutt's free throw and layup to cut the gap to 63-60 with 4:12 to play.

With a chance to increase Ohio's lead, Cooper and Nick Kellogg missed three- pointers. But Offutt blocked Smotrycz's attempted layup at the other end.

Following a few missed shots, the Wolverines called timeout with 1:32 remaining. Zack Novak, who was limited to two points, was off the mark from the corner.

But Kellogg quickly gave the ball back to Michigan, by dribbling the ball out of bounds. Burke was unable to connect on a pair of shots from beyond the arc, but the Wolverines kept the ball with 17.7 seconds to go.

Smotrycz followed with a big mistake when he lost control of the basketball in the corner. Offutt was credited with the steal and he made two free throws with 6.8 ticks left to give Ohio a 65-60 edge.

Burke missed a three-pointer as time expired.

"We knew we had to trust each other," Cooper said. "We knew they would go on a run. Coach kept telling us good teams go on a run at some point in the game. We stayed together and believed in one another."

The Bobcats held a 24-22 lead with over six minutes left in the first half, when they put together an 11-0 run. Kellogg made two three-pointers during the surge to give Ohio a 35-22 margin.

But the Wolverines scored the final seven points of the half to cut their deficit to 35-29 at the break.

Michigan started the second half on an 11-7 flurry to get within two, 42-40, on Smotrycz's trey with 15 minutes to go.

Offutt brought the spurt to an end with a layup and Keely followed with two free throws, making it 46-40.

Game Notes

Michigan and Ohio met once previously in the NCAA Tournament, a 69-57 Michigan victory on March 14, 1964 in the regional finals. Michigan fell to 3-1 all- time against Ohio...The Bobcats improved to 6-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament...The Wolverines made their 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance... Michigan's No. 4 seed was its highest since 1998 when the Wolverines earned the third seed...Ohio shot 51.2 percent and went 15-of-17 from the foul line, while Michigan shot 40.7 percent and went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.