COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Everybody knows what Nik Stauskas has done this season. Ronnie Lott Jersey . But he had a lot of help from Michigans freshmen in leading the way to yet another big road win. Stauskas scored 15 points and freshmen Derrick Walton III and Zak Irvin each had a big game to power the 15th-ranked Wolverines to a 70-60 victory over No. 22 Ohio State on Tuesday night. "Obviously, it was a hostile arena," senior forward Jordan Morgan said. "Youve got to get comfortable with pressure that (the Buckeyes) are going to put on you. Theyre going to challenge you to make big plays and I think our freshmen stepped up and did it." Walton scored 13 points, added a career-high 10 rebounds and was just one behind his previous best in assists with six. Irvin came off the bench to give the Wolverines (18-6, 10-2 Big Ten) a lift. He scored 10 points, hitting both of his 3-pointers and adding a solid defensive effort. Michigan coach John Beilein was pleased with just about everybody in blue, but had particular praise set aside for his first-year players. "Walton had a great game, with 10 rebounds and controlling the tempo," he said. Of Irvin, he added, "Hes been a typical freshman in some ways, but the young man can make a shot." The victory ended a nine-game skid over the last 11 years in Columbus for the Wolverines, who came into the game tied for the top spot in the conference with Michigan State. "We love getting road wins. Thats one of the hardest things to do in this conference," said Morgan, who had eight rebounds -- six on the offensive glass -- and contributed six points. "Any time you can get one of those its big. Obviously, this game means a lot to a lot of people. For us to come into this environment and get this win is big." LaQuinton Ross had 24 points and Lenzelle Smith Jr. 13 for Ohio State (19-6, 6-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Buckeyes hadnt lost to their archrivals on their home court since a 61-50 setback on Jan. 15, 2003. The Wolverines were coming off an 85-67 loss at No. 17 Iowa on Saturday and had played three road games in 10 days and five games total over the last 13. But they had more energy in the second half -- outscoring Ohio State 44-30 -- to pull out a game in which they trailed by 10 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Buckeyes led by eight early in the second half, but that cushion disappeared when Michigan scored on four straight possessions, including a dunk by Jon Horford off Waltons assist, a 3 by Irvin, Columbus native Caris LeVerts steal and end-to-end layup, and two foul shots by Stauskas. That gave the Wolverines their first lead since their first basket at 44-43. The surge was part of a 12-0 run that turned the game around. Stauskas picked up a basket on a goaltending call before Walton slashed through the lane and was fouled while spinning in a layup, completing the three-point play to make it 49-43 with 9:15 left. "When it came down to it, they gave the ball to Walton down the stretch and let him make plays," said Buckeyes defensive whiz Aaron Craft. Ohio State got as close as 51-50 before Morgan scored inside and then, on the next trip down the floor, kept the ball alive on an offensive rebound, leading to a 3 by Stauskas. Shannon Scotts steal led to a dunk by Buckeyes teammate Sam Thompson, and Michigan was hanging on, 56-52, with 3:24 left. But LeVert drove the lane and flicked a pass to the right corner to Glenn Robinson III, who hit a 3 with 2:45 left to push the lead to 59-52. "Robinsons 3 from the corner was huge," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who fell to 17-5 against Michigan. After Craft airballed a 3 at the other end, Walton was fouled on a 3 with 1:54 left and calmly made all three to push the lead to 10. The Buckeyes didnt threaten again. "Today we werent the tougher team down the stretch," Craft said. It was the only regular-season meeting between the longtime rivals this season, due to the Big Tens 18-game, rotating schedule. Thats OK with Beilein. "It was like a Final Four game," he said of the atmosphere, which included a roaring crowd of 18,809. "It was loud. And it had two of the really good programs in the Big Ten going at it." James Jones Jersey . KINGS TAKE FREEWAY SERIES The Los Angeles Kings stormed the Anaheim Ducks early in Game Seven, building a 3-0 first-period lead on their way to a 6-2 decision, earning the Kings a rematch with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final. George Blanda Womens Jersey Elite .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. DENVER -- Rudy Fernandez provided both the spark and the cushion for the Denver Nuggets on Friday night. Fernandez scored a season-high 23 points in his return from a sore right Achilles as the Nuggets routed the short-handed Toronto Raptors 96-81 for their sixth straight win. He also served as a barrier between Nuggets forward Al Harrington and Raptors swingman Linas Kleiza in their short skirmish in the final minute as Harrington shoved Fernandez into Kleiza. Harrington took offence when Kleiza put his hand on his face moments earlier, and they jawed at each other coming back upcourt. As they went face-to-face, Kleiza shoved Harrington, who shoved back -- only with Fernandez in the middle of it all playing peacemaker. During the timeout for the officials to look at the tape and sort out what had happened -- they ended up calling technical fouls on both Harrington and Kleiza, along with Nene -- Harrington continued to stare down Kleiza, who smiled back at him. "Some NBA guys think its funny because you can do all that and the referees are out there to save them," Harrington said, "and I dont play games like that." He said he was sorry for shoving Fernandez to get to Kleiza, too. "Yeah, I apologized. Rudy was the only way I could get to him, so I picked Rudy up and kind of tossed him," Harrington said. "But it is what it is. Its over. We won. Great win. Weve got a six-game winning streak. Were just going to keep pushing." Kleiza didnt have much to say about his part in the scuffle. "For me, what happens on the court stays on the court," he said after his first game at the Pepsi Center since leaving the Nuggets two years ago to play in Greece. Kleiza started in place of leading scorer Andrea Bargnani, whos out indefinitely after aggravating a strained left calf this week, and finished with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting as the Raptors shot just 39 per cent and never led. "I had some good shots," Kleiza said. "Didnt fall for anybody. What can you do? Youve got to work tomorrow and try to win the next day. I got some good looks, they just didnt fall." The Raptors took a while to adjust to Bargnanis absence, and by the time they did, it was too late as they fell to 0-7 in games hes been sidelined. They missed 14 of their first 15 shots, fell behind 16-2, scored jjust a dozen points in the first quarter and trudged off the court at halftime trailing 54-32. Andre Holmes Jersey. "The first half, every shot they threw up it seems like it went in," Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan said. "It kills your spirit a little bit and we dug ourselves a hole." Fernandez, the first Denver player off the bench, made his first five shots, including three from behind the arc in his first action since missing two games, wins at New York and Sacramento. "Im feeling good with my shots and Im happy my Achilles is feeling better, which is more important," Fernandez said. Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and Nene had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who also got 13 points, 12 assists and six rebounds from Andre Miller, starting in place of Ty Lawson (ankle). Miller swished a 60-foot running jump shot at the buzzer to cap an impressive first quarter in which the Nuggets outscored Toronto 28-12. Leandro Barbosa led Toronto with 19 points, and his three-pointer early in the fourth quarter trimmed Denvers lead to 80-74, forcing coach George Karl, who drew a third-quarter technical, to call a timeout. The Nuggets staunched the bleeding with back-to-back buckets from Gallinari and Fernandez to make it 85-74. Jerryd Bayless added 18 points and James Johnson 16 for Toronto. The Raptors have lost every game in which Bargnani, who averages 23.5 points, has been sidelined. He scored 36 points in a win over Phoenix on Tuesday night in his return from the six-game absence and had 25 points Wednesday night at Utah when he reinjured himself in overtime as he battled for a rebound. Bargnani said this time its more serious, leading to concerns he could miss a significant amount of games. "Our guys have to believe," Raptors coach Dwayne Casey said. "We cant sit back and wait for Andrea to come back. As it was said famously before, hes not walking through that door. Its us against the world for a while, we dont know how long its going to be, and weve got to play like it. I dont think we had the same approach walking into the gym." Notes: Arron Afflalo also returned to the Nuggets lineup after missing those two games, but he missed all three of his shots and was shut out. ... Fernandezs career high is 26 points for Portland at Minnesota on Dec. 17, 2010. ' ' '
