Ohio State Set To Face 13th-Seeded Minnesota In Second Round Of Big Ten Tournament

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.