Lendeborg didn't hold back after the win over the Buckeyes on Friday night

Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan were neck-and-neck for 33 minutes, but Michigan pulled away late. Here are our takeaways from Ohio State's 74-62 loss.

Mara, who was much better defensively than offensively on Friday, scored six critical points down the stretch for Michigan, putting the Wolverines up 64-56 with 5:16 remaining in the game. Ohio State battled for the better part of 30 minutes, but Michigan just outlasted the Buckeyes on Friday, pulling away in the final minutes to win, 74-62.

Pregame analysis and predictions of the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Iowa Hawkeyes NCAAW game to be played on January 25, 2026 on ESPN.

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

Smith, who spent the past two seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers' OC and three seasons before that as the Atlanta Falcons' head coach, will replace Brian Hartline and inherit a star-studded Buckeyes unit that features a Heisman finalist at quarterback in Julian Sayin and a Biletnikoff winner at receiver in Jeremiah Smith.

Michigan hosts Ohio State tonight (8:00 p.m., FOX) for Trey Burke night in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines will put Burke’s No. 3 jersey in the rafters at halftime for the only game on the schedule that makes sense for the Columbus native.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are in pursuit of a third straight ranked win.

CBS Sports spotlighted a former Alabama DL standout as Ohio State’s top transfer portal addition for 2026.