ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ohio State’s long-range shooting proved costly again. Whether it causes the Buckeyes to reassess what a good shot is for them, that is a question that won’t be answered for at least another game.

The sixth-ranked Buckeyes fell behind Michigan in the first half last night after they fell in love with the three-point shot, and they never caught up, falling 56-51 at the Crisler Center and into a second-place tie with the Wolverines in the Big Ten standings.

“You’re hoping at some point the dam breaks and you’re able to get something going,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

But it never did for anyone but Deshaun Thomas, whose 25 points nearly equaled the total scored by his teammates. The Buckeyes shot 38.8 percent from the field, attempted a third of their shots from behind the arc and made only three, all by Thomas (3 of 6). His teammates were 0 of 10.

Northland High graduate Trey Burke led the 17th-ranked Wolverines (20-7, 10-4) with 17 points, including their last two baskets on driving runners in the final 1:18 as they held off a Buckeyes rally.

“We had to make tough shots to win; we made tough shots,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.

Tim Hardaway Jr. added 13 points and Jordan Morgan 11 for Michigan, which improved to 15-0 at home this season.

Thomas also had a game-high 13 rebounds and Jared Sullinger added 14 points for Ohio State (22-5, 10-4), including 10 in the second half when the Buckeyes finally looked to him inside.

“I thought we tried (to go inside) and there were a couple charge calls, and then after that, we got really nervous and … started falling in love with the three again,” Sullinger said.

The Buckeyes were whistled for charging five times, which Matta said “may have set an NCAA record.”

Ohio State trailed by five points at halftime and saw that deficit double in the first 6:09 of the second half. Morgan twice beat Sullinger for dunks in transition, and Burke — Sullinger’s high-school teammate — scored five points as the Wolverines expanded their lead to 37-27.

Michigan’s lead was still 10 with less than 12 minutes left when the Buckeyes finally began to target Sullinger in the post. He got a shot on five straight possessions and scored on three as the Buckeyes cut the Wolverines’ lead to 42-38 with 8:55 left and forced a Michigan timeout.

Michigan pushed its advantage to 47-40 with 7:25 left on a three-point play by Morgan, but Thomas matched it with a three-pointer, and after a free throw by Hardaway, the Buckeyes closed to 48-45 on two free throws by Sullinger with 4:51 left.

They had a chance to make up the difference on their next possession, but Lenzelle Smith Jr.’s runner in the lane was waved off when he was called for charging with 4:16 left.

Michigan went ahead by five points again on its next possession on a jumper by Stu Douglass with one second left on the shot clock, and Ohio State did not get closer than three points the rest of the way.

Thomas said Matta told the players after the game that they needed to be tougher down the stretch.

“The toughness comes when you’ve got to keep playing. Obviously, we didn’t do that as well as we needed to tonight,” Matta said. “We could never draw the line to where we needed it to get the stops to get the momentum back on our side to go ahead.”

The Buckeyes trailed 17-16 with less than seven minutes left in the first half when, as they did Tuesday night at Minnesota, they fell in love with the quick three-point shot instead of looking for better chances.

With first Amir Williams and then Sullinger in the post, the Buckeyes attempted four three-pointers in a span of five shots despite having yet to make one in the game. In so doing, they let their one-point deficit grow to 23-16.

bbaptist@dispatch.com