Three days after the Big Ten finalized its tournament bracket, Ohio State knows its first opponent.
The Buckeyes will take on 13th-seeded Minnesota – which beat 12th-seeded Northwestern on Wednesday – in the second round at approximately 2 p.m. Thursday in Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium. The winner will move on to the quarterfinals when it'll meet fourth-seeded Purdue on Friday.
The Golden Gophers (14-14, 6-14 Big Ten) earned their shot at the Buckeyes by defeating the Wildcats, 51-46, in their first win of the season away from Williams Arena in Minneapolis. They gave up only two points by Northwestern in the first 11 and a half minutes of Wednesday's game and held Chris Collins' bunch scoreless after Ronnie Beran put the Wildcats ahead by seven with 4:15 left. Tre Williams led Minnesota with 14 points. Jamal Mashburn Jr. added 11 points, and Marcus Carr had 10 points. The victors shot 36.7 percent from the field and was 5-of-20 from behind the arc.
Minnesota got the better of Ohio State in early January, handing Chris Holtmann's team its worst loss of the season, 77-60. However, two key contributors in that game – center Liam Robbins (27 points, 14 rebounds) and guard Gabe Kalscheur (13 points) – missed the first-round matchup versus Northwestern due to injuries. Their statuses for the rematch with Ohio State are unknown.
Ohio State-Minnesota will be television Thursday afternoon on Big Ten Network.
