By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) –
Columbus — By the time Zack Novak’s right elbow connected with P.J. Hill’s face with 1:27 to play Wednesday night, Ohio State’s 72-54 victory over Michigan was well in hand.

When it comes to the Buckeyes and Wolverines, there’s always room for some messages to be sent, and on their way to dropping their second game to Ohio State in 11 days, the Wolverines, maybe clumsily, were trying to deliver one.

“Playing Ohio State is like playing your bigger brother,” Michigan forward DeShawn Sims said. “You have to win to gain their respect. You’ve got to come out and play them hard, because if not, the other team won’t respect you. That’s based on the rivalry that’s been going on long before I was born.”
There are always unseen exchanges during the course of play, but perhaps that final message could have been delivered more delicately than with a high elbow to the nose while boxing out on a free throw. It led to Novak’s ejection after the officials looked at a replay.

“There’s always something,” Sims said of those unseen exchanges. “You’ve got to make your mark and let them know you’re here and you’re here to stay. But you’ve got to do it in a way that’s not detrimental to the team.”

So to be clear, no one is coming out in favor of elbow facials. Evan Turner, who led the Buckeyes with 24 points and was shooting a free throw while the elbow was thrown, certainly didn’t like it, getting in Novak’s face immediately as the players clumped together and puffed out their chests.

“I was just sticking up for my teammate and my friend,” Turner said. “Sometimes stuff happens and you have to handle it accordingly.

“So that’s what we did.”

For an Ohio State team treading water in the middle of the Big Ten, it must be good to hear that some team thinks of the Buckeyes as the bigger brother.

By breaking a two-game losing streak, Ohio State (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) grabbed sixth place in the conference while dominating one of those winnable games that every NCAA Tournament hopeful needs. Though Michigan (14-7, 4-5) owns a win over Duke, the No. 1 team in the country, the Buckeyes’ two head-to-head wins must place them ahead of the Wolverines on the tournament-selection pecking order.
How did Ohio State do it? With smart shots, many created by Turner. The Buckeyes shot 56.8 percent from the field, their second-most accurate game of the season, with Jeremie Simmons and B.J. Mullens each backing up Turner with 12 points.

“I thought Evan was really good tonight and he got other guys open,” said Ohio State’s Jon Diebler, who scored eight points. “I thought we moved the ball around pretty well and when we do that we get great shots.”

And then the Buckeyes attacked the Wolverines Levitra whithout prescription with their press, forcing them into a season-high 21 turnovers. Michigan star Manny Harris managed a triple double of 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 turnovers.
“Part of it was their defense. Part of it was a bad job of handling the ball,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “It was like there was snow on it.”

Maybe that caused Novak’s elbow to slip, too. Novak said Hill said something to him just before the play. Hill said Novak tried to get him before, so Hill told the official to watch out for something.

“I tried to make an aggressive box out and had a high elbow,” Novak said. “It probably looked pretty bad, so I don’t know. It wasn’t my intention to hurt anybody.”

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