Neither before nor after Jan. 3 did Ohio State suffer a loss by as many points as the 77-60 defeat at the hands of Minnesota. Only once in the other 25 games of the regular season – against Iowa on Feb. 28 – did the Buckeyes even lose by more than seven points.
Maybe it was the magic inside Williams Arena that aided Richard Pitino’s bunch to beat Iowa, Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State at home while losing all 10 games away from home. Whatever the reason, the Golden Gophers got the job done in blowout fashion that day in Minneapolis.
On Thursday afternoon, Ohio State has its shot at revenge.
The fifth-seeded Buckeyes (18-8, 12-8) will get a second chance to take down Minnesota, and this time there’ll be something more than a win or a loss on the line. They’ll meet the 13th-seeded Golden Gophers (14-14, 6-14) in the second round of the Big Ten tournament at 2 p.m. in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals to face fourth-seeded Purdue the next day.
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota (14-14, 6-14) | Indianapolis, Indiana (Lucas Oil Stadium) | 2 p.m. (approx) | BTN |
“It should be a fantastic Big Ten tournament all-around, and obviously it's going to be a challenge there tomorrow afternoon,” head coach Chris Holtmann said on Wednesday. “So, looking forward to getting started here.
This time, despite them head-to-head loss a little over two months ago, Ohio State will enter as an 11.5-point betting favorite. This team needs to get back into the winning column after four consecutive losses against Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Illinois to end the season, and the impending game versus the Golden Gophers should be a prime opportunity to do just that.
Minnesota topped Northwestern, 51-46, on Wednesday to advance to the second round of the conference tournament, winning the first game in eight years where both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, below 30 percent on 3-point attempts and below 45 percent from the free-throw line. The Golden Gophers allowed two points in the first 11 minutes yet still trailed by seven points with four minutes remaining. To call it an ugly win would be kind.
Holtmann and his assistants weren’t in the building to watch, though they did stay up to put together the plan of attack after finally learning it’ll be Minnesota, not Northwestern, waiting for the Buckeyes in the second round.
“Long story short is what we've done is try to prepare for both as much as we can without overwhelming our guys with preparation for two opponents,” Holtmann said. “We'll have a long night tonight after the game as coaches in terms of finalizing, putting the final touches on the game plan. So it'll be a long night. We'll be in Indianapolis for the game. We can't live scout. What we'll be watching as a coaching staff. Our players will have dinner. We'll meet with our players probably once, maybe twice, after that, and then meet again in the morning.”
Three Things To Watch
Injuries: A Big Factor
One major reason for the Buckeyes being double-digit favorites? Injuries.
Neither center Liam Robbins (sprained left ankle) nor guard Gabe Kalscheur (broken finger) played in Wednesday’s game due to injuries, and their statuses for Thursday afternoon’s tilt are unknown. Earlier in the week, Pitino said Kalscheur was “definitely further away” from returning than Robbins, though he declined to give details on how close either was from playing. Robbins would appear to be the more likely of the two starters to play on Wednesday, though Pitino didn’t make a declaration one way or another after beating the Wildcats.
“I don't know about Liam. I guess we'll kind of see tomorrow,” Pitino said after beating Northwestern. “Obviously he was terrific that game. That was his best game of the year, by far.”
Pitino on Liam Robbins' availability for tomorrow's game against Ohio State: "I don't know about Liam. I guess we'll kind of see tomorrow."
— Gophers Guru (@GophersGuru) March 11, 2021
He had 27 points and 14 rebounds during Minnesota's 77-60 win over the Buckeyes in early January. #Gophers pic.twitter.com/3zLK5qgkwN
Ohio State knows Robbins and Kalscheur well. In fact, they accounted for more than half of Minnesota’s 77 points in the Jan. 3 game between these two teams. Robbins, a 7-foot, 235-pound center, accounted for 27 points and 14 rebounds, and Kalscheur added 13 points and five boards.
If neither can get cleared, the Buckeyes would avoid two of the Golden Gophers’ better players and two of the guys who have given them trouble in the recent past. Robbins, who averages 11.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and a Big Ten-most 2.7 blocks per game, thrived against Ohio State. Kalscheur is his team’s third-leading scorer with 9.2 points per game.
Whether Robbins plays or not, the Buckeyes will want more out of forwards E.J. Liddell, Kyle Young and Zed Key.
They are dealing with some injuries, too, though nobody is expected to be a game-time decision. Justice Sueing, who has dealt with a groin issue, was expected back at practice on Wednesday after having a procedure. Seth Towns (knee) and Musa Jallow (ankle) continue to battle their nagging ailments. Kyle Young, Holtmann said, is “feeling really good right now” despite battling lower-leg pain for much of the season.
Make It A Get-Right Game?
Second-round games in conference tournaments typically aren’t must-win games. That’s especially true for teams projected as top-three seeds in the NCAA tournament. But Thursday’s matchup with Minnesota comes close for Ohio State.
This is a game the Buckeyes need to win after dropping their last four, and it’s a game they should win. They can’t afford to lose their fifth straight game, doing so as a double-digit-point favorite, and play their first game in the NCAA tournament without having won a game in over a month. That would be an abject disaster.
Holtmann spent much of his pre-tournament press conference talking about the positives he sees from his Ohio State team. His players will get to prove those comments correct on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, you know how this thing works. You've seen it before,” Holtmann said. “Guys can go into tournament time really hot and struggle, and go in really struggling and get hot. It's an unknown. What you want to try to focus on is being healthy and playing well. And we just have to play a little bit better.”
Marcus Carr, Outside Shooting, And Turnover Margin
You know the name by now. Marcus Carr, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard, is one of the most prolific scorers in the Big Ten with 19.3 points per game on 39 percent shooting, 31.6 percent 3-point shooting and 80.1 percent free-throw shooting with 6.6 foul shots per game. He put up 15 points on Ohio State in January, but the year prior he dropped 35 points on the Buckeyes then hit a game-winner versus them a month later.
Needless to say, putting the clamps on Carr is a priority.
Outside of him, two other statistical categories stand out for Thursday’s game: 3-point shooting and turnovers.
Ohio State shoots 36.1 percent from behind the arc (64th in the country) and Minnesota makes 28.5 percent of its 3-point attempts (339th in the country). Somehow, the numbers were essentially reversed on the Jan. 3 showdown when the Buckeyes hit just 7-of-27 3s (25.9 percent) while the Golden Gophers were 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from deep. That statistical anomaly can’t happen again or else Ohio State would find itself in some danger.
Both of these teams rank in the top-25 nationally in turnover rate, protecting the ball better than most. Avoiding mistakes with the ball will be a key for both teams.
Prediction: Ohio State 80, Minnesota 70
