If there’s such thing as a get-right game in the Big Ten this season, it’s the next one up on the Buckeyes’ schedule.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota (6-8, 0-4 B1G) | Schottenstein Center | 6:30 p.m. | FS1 |
The only team winless in conference play thus far comes to town at the perfect time for Ohio State, which runs the risk of a three-game slide if it can’t get past the Big Ten’s cellar-dweller Thursday. Not only would a loss represent Ohio State’s longest skid since 2020-21, but it would also mark the singular worst defeat of the season for the Buckeyes, who face a 6-8 Minnesota team that’s come up empty-handed in four previous attempts at a Big Ten victory.
That’s not to say Minnesota hasn’t come close. The Golden Gophers dragged Nebraska to overtime Saturday before coming up two points short. Four days prior, Minnesota lost by only three points to then-No. 14 Wisconsin. Those results are a big step up from Minnesota’s 19-point Dec. 4 loss to Purdue and subsequent 15-point defeat to Michigan on Dec. 8, but an L is an L all the same.
The Buckeyes know the feeling. They didn’t get any bonus points for almost knocking off the No. 1 team in the country last Thursday, nor were they spared any sympathy for losing to Maryland on the road without Zed Key (shoulder). Ohio State’s first set of consecutive losses is a setback for a team that seemed to be trending upward ahead of last week’s Purdue matchup, and Thursday’s 6:30 tip is a golden opportunity to respond.
“We've got, as always, an important week, and a Minnesota team that's playing very, very well and now is fully healthy,” Chris Holtmann said on 97.1 The Fan Monday. “And that's our sole focus right now.”
Need to Know
League's worst offense
Record-wise, it doesn’t get worse than the Gophers in the Big Ten. One of the biggest factors in their lack of success is their poor production on offense, where Minnesota is averaging a league-low 64.3 points per game this season. That’s nearly three points fewer than the second-lowest scoring team in the Big Ten. Minnesota also collectively shoots the second-worst percentage from the field in the conference at 43.2%. The Gophers are actually in the top half of the league when it comes to 3-point field-goal percentage (33.4%), but that only makes their inefficiency from inside the line even more damning.
Poor perimeter defense
No Big Ten team gives up a higher 3-point shooting percentage to its opponents than Minnesota. Gopher foes shoot 33.9% from long range, which is dead last in the conference and figures to be a weakness the Buckeyes can exploit on Thursday. After all, Ohio State is the Big Ten’s most accurate 3-point shooting team at 38.4% for the season. Ten teams in the conference have attempted more 3-pointers, but none hit a higher clip than the Buckeyes. Even in two recent losses, Ohio State shot nearly 41% from 3-point range across the Purdue and Maryland matchups, although the Buckeyes tied their season-low with 13 attempts against the Terps.
A Key absence for OSU
While Holtmann said Zed Key is making “regular progress” from his shoulder sprain and should be back “relatively soon,” don’t count on him to return for Thursday night’s tip-off at the Schottenstein Center. After missing all but the first four minutes of last week’s Purdue contest, Key’s absence was particularly detrimental against Maryland on Sunday as the Terps had 14 offensive boards, outrebounded OSU 40-26, scored 34 points in the paint and shot 33 free throws. With 6-foot-11 Minnesota big man Dawson Garcia leading the Gophers in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (6.5) thus far, Ohio State will have to perform better down low collectively than it did in its first full game without Key.
UPDATE: Key was listed as a game-time decision on Ohio State's availability report two-and-a-half hours before tip-off.
Three Important Buckeyes
Felix Okpara
With Key sidelined, Okpara is expected to make the second start of his college career against Minnesota. And Ohio State would welcome a better result than his first. The freshman never had a chance to get going against Maryland after picking up three fouls in the first half and wound up playing just 12 minutes. By the final buzzer, Okpara finished with one more foul than he had points and rebounds combined. Holtmann said avoiding foul trouble will be crucial for Okpara going forward, and that will be even more important against a prolific big man like Garcia.
“It’s a conversation we’ll continue to have,” Holtmann said Monday. “Because his value right now is he needs to be able to give us 20, 25 good minutes because his size and length is so valuable.”
Eugene Brown
Ohio State’s de facto backup big man in a Key-less lineup, Brown logged his most minutes of the season against Maryland (17), but racked up four fouls along the way while tasked with guarding the Terps’ big men for much of the game. At 6-foot-7 and 195 pounds, Brown is far from resembling a Big Ten center, though he may have to continue guarding them for stretches while Key is out.
Brice Sensabaugh
The true freshman has been the Buckeyes’ scoring leader in each of the past six games and he’s scored at least 20 points in four of them. Sensabaugh is the seventh-leading scorer in the Big Ten with his average of 16.7 points per game, and only two freshmen in the country (Alabama’s Brandon Miller and Baylor’s Keyonte George) are scoring more points this season. Nebraska wings Juwan Gary and Sam Griesel combined to put up 35 points against Minnesota on Saturday, which suggests Sensabaugh will have plenty of opportunity for another big game on Thursday.
Three Important Gophers
Jamison Battle
Last year’s top scoring option for Minnesota has battled injury early in the season, missing four of the first 14 games, but Battle appears to be back in top form as of late. Averaging 13.6 points per game for the season, the George Washington transfer is scoring 16.3 a night in his past four performances, including a 20-point effort against Nebraska on Saturday. Battle had two of his worst shooting performances of the season against Ohio State last year, but the 6-foot-7 forward is capable of getting hot in a hurry and is rarely deterred by a string of misses.
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Season Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAURUS SAMUELS | G | 6-0 | 175 | 2.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG |
| TA'LON COOPER | G | 6-4 | 190 | 10.5 PPG, 6.4 APG |
| JOSHUA OLA-JOSEPH | F | 6-7 | 215 | 7.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG |
| JAMISON BATTLE | F | 6-7 | 225 | 13.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG |
| DAWSON GARCIA | F | 6-11 | 230 | 14.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG |
Dawson Garcia
Garcia might have been Ohio State’s top defensive concern even if Key was available, but the absence of the Buckeyes’ starting center makes the near 7-footer a bigger point of emphasis on Thursday. Since transferring from North Carolina, Garcia already has a pair of 20-point performances under his belt for the Gophers. He scored 19 and pulled down 15 boards against the Huskers this past weekend. Garcia can stretch the floor, too, as he’s hitting almost 30% of his 3.4 3-point attempts per game in his first year on the Minnesota roster.
Ta’Lon Cooper
Another first-year Gopher, Cooper has been a welcome addition to the Minnesota backcourt since coming over from Morehead State. The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging a career-high 10.4 points per game, shoots 55% from the 3-point line and is third in the conference with an average of 6.4 assists. Minnesota has hardly taken Cooper off the floor this season, either, as the fourth-year guard is logging the second-most minutes of any player in the conference (35.3).
How it Plays Out
Line: OSU -15, O/U: 137
Key’s absence will continue to be an issue for Ohio State as long as he’s out, but I expect a more poised performance from Okpara and a sharper offensive effort from the Buckeyes as a whole at home against what is objectively the worst team in the Big Ten on paper.
Prediction: Ohio State 74, Minnesota 65
