No. 17 Michigan stifles Sullinger, No. 6 Buckeyes

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan coach John Beilein had one of the longest days of his career Saturday.

He couldn't have asked for a better ending.

More than 17 hours after Beilein showed up at the Crisler Center with doughnuts for the fans, No. 17 Michigan finished off a 56-51 victory over No. 6 Ohio State.

The Wolverines (20-7, 10-4 Big Ten) are 15-0 at home and tied with the Buckeyes for second place in the Big Ten, a half-game behind Michigan State.

"This is a very special day for this program," Beilein said. "There are a lot of small victories that come when you are rebuilding a program, and this was one of them."

Beilein's day started with a predawn visit to Michigan fans lined up outside the arena to see the ESPN "GameDay" show.

"I got there at 6, and I was afraid we were only going to have 40 or 50 kids out there, but they were lined up past the football stadium," Beilein said. "It was moving the way our fans embraced this game.

"It didn't just feel like a rivalry game -- this felt like we were playing for the Big Ten championship."

The star of the night was a true freshman who was introduced to the fired-up crowd as "The pride of Columbus, Ohio, Trey Burke."

Burke finished with 17 points, including a clinching runner with 11 seconds left that helped Michigan stop a six-game losing streak to the Buckeyes.

"I was going to call timeout, but I saw Trey had some room, and I trusted him to know what to do with a three-point lead in the final 20 seconds," Beilein said.

Burke's shot floated over All-America forward Jared Sullinger, hit high off the backboard and fell through the net. Burke said he knew what kind of shot to take because he knew what to expect from Sullinger -- his former high school teammate.

"Jared likes to take a lot of charges, so I knew he would be looking for that instead of trying to block my shot," said Burke, who also had five assists. "I just wanted to pull up short and get it over him."

Sullinger struggled in his matchup with Michigan sophomore Jordan Morgan. Morgan had his first career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Sullinger had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said he thought Morgan's biggest contribution came outside the box score.

"I think he must have taken five charges, which has to be an NCAA record," Matta said. "I just kept telling our kids to try to avoid contact whenever possible, because everything was getting called."

Deshaun Thomas finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds for Ohio State (22-5, 10-4), but Sullinger was the only other Buckeyes player to score more than six.