On a cold night outside The Schottenstein Center, the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s shooting inside was not much warmer.

Too bad Michigan’s wasn’t the same.

When the Buckeyes struggled the Wolverines capitalized and took a 61-50 victory over the Buckeyes in front of 16,085 fans last night.

“I was not happy with the way we practiced yesterday, and tonight we played like we practiced,” said OSU men’s basketball coach Jim O’Brien after the defeat.

The win was Michigan’s 10th straight after losing its first six games of the season. OSU dropped to 8-6 overall, but 1-2 in the Big Ten Conference.

For the game, the Buckeyes shot only 35 percent, including just 7-of-24 in the second half.

Guard Brent Darby, the Buckeyes’ leading scorer, was held to just 12 points. His only second half points came on two free throws.

OSU’s struggles were not relegated to its inside shooting. The Buckeyes were just 2-of-17 from behind the three-point arch.

After debating all week long, O’Brien decided to go back to the same three post-player lineup that worked against Indiana last weekend. The lineup featured Zach Williams, Velimir Radinovic and Shun Jenkins.

The lineup would not last long as the Buckeyes got themselves into early foul trouble.

Williams picked up his third foul with more than 10 minutes left in the first half. Radinovic wouldn’t last much longer as he also picked up his third foul in the opening half.

With two post players sitting on the bench, O’Brien was forced to go to Matt Marinchick. He would end up with two points. He also committed two fouls.

Even with their early struggles, the Buckeyes toook an early lead. OSU had leads of 15-7 and 21-10 in the first half.

The Wolverines were able to battle back, thanks in large part to their three-point shooting. The Buckeye lead quickly vanished as Michigan pulled to within one.

Darby closed out the half with a running shot in the lane, giving OSU a slim 32-29 halftime lead.

The momentum seemed to completely swing in the Wolverines favor at the start of the second half.

But while Michigan took a 41-36 lead early, but the Buckeyes battled back.

A three-point play by Jenkins — who along with Darby led the Buckeyes with 12 points — gave OSU a slim lead.

However, the Wolverine defense seemed to concentrate on the leader scorer late in the game as the Buckeyes tried to battle back.

“It’s going to be very difficult for us to win in Shun and Brent don’t score,” O’Brien said.

The Wolverines’ stifling defense limited the Buckeyes to just four points in the game’s final eight minutes. With OSU struggling, Michigan would take a lead it would never relinquish. The Wolverines finished the game outscoring the Buckeyes 32-18 in the final half.

“We showed a lot of toughness tonight,” said Michigan men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker. “That’s something we didn’t have in the past.”

Amaker said he knows that his Wolverines were helped by the struggles of Darby.

“Darby missed some shot he usually makes,” Amaker said.

While his offense struggled, O’Brien was not upset with the play of his defense.

“If the opposition scores 61, you would think you have a chance to win,” he said.

Williams, who was called for a number of moving screens in the first half, said he believes the loss could be attested to the Buckeyes lack of focus.

“We have to focus a little more on what each of us need to do individually,” Williams said.

The lone bright spot on the offensive end for the Buckeyes was their free-throw shooting. OSU was a perfect 16-of-16 from the charity stripe.