It was fun while it lasted.
Riding high off the momentum from its upset win over then-No. 2 Purdue on Sunday – its first game under interim head coach Jake Diebler – Ohio State entered Williams Arena in Minneapolis with hopes of snapping its school record-tying 16-game road losing streak against Minnesota.
Instead, that record was broken.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 34 | 45 | 79 |
| MINNESOTA | 42 | 46 | 88 |
The Buckeyes (15-12, 5-11 Big Ten) never led against the Gophers (17-9, 8-7) in an 88-79 loss, Ohio State's 10th defeat in 13 games. OSU hasn't won back-to-back games since Dec. 30 and Jan. 3 against West Virginia and Rutgers.
Minnesota led by double digits from 9:30 remaining until there was 1:37 to play. Second-chance points were a huge factor in building its lead, with the Gophers grabbing 19 of them to Ohio State's nine.
A three-headed monster of Elijah Hawkins, Dawson Garcia and Pharrel Payne collected 24, 22 and 15 points respectively to spearhead Minnesota's efforts. Garcia added a game-high nine rebounds.
Bruce Thornton picked up 25 points for the Buckeyes, with 23 of those coming in the second half, in a losing effort. Jamison Battle collected 21 against his former team, going 5-of-10 from three.
First half
Minnesota came out of the gates and knocked down each of its first seven shots from the field.
The Gophers opened on an 8-0 run and pushed their lead to double digits at 14-4 thanks to seven early points from Garcia, then a triple from Hawkins made it 17-7.
Ohio State responded with an 8-0 run on the back of two left-wing triples from Scotty Middleton, pulling back within five points. Another 14-4 run, this time catalyzed by five Battle points including a nasty stepback three, cut the Minnesota lead to one score at 26-23.
Minnesota pushed its advantage back out to seven, but Ohio State responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 30. Battle closed the streak with a cataclysmic NBA-range triple from the top of the key.
The Gophers didn't let the Buckeyes take any leads before halftime, however, launching another 8-0 run to go up 40-32 and take a 42-34 lead into intermission.
Minnesota shot 53.3% from the field in the opening 20 minutes and cleaned up many of the shots it did miss, racking up 11 second-chance points.
Second half
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MINNESOTA |
|---|---|---|
| 79 | POINTS | 88 |
| 29-57 (50.9%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 28-56 (50%) |
| 7-23 (30.4%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 8-19 (42.1%) |
| 14-18 (77.8%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 24-31 (77.4%) |
| 11 | TURNOVERS | 9 |
| 26 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 32 |
| 9 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 13 |
| 17 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 19 |
| 18 | BENCH POINTS | 14 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 3 |
| 5 | STEALS | 6 |
| 12 | ASSISTS | 17 |
A pair of downtown makes from Hawkins extended Minnesota's lead back to 12 before the second period's first media timeout, the latter of the two makes coming on yet another second-chance opportunity.
With his squad trailing 53-42, Thornton got to work to try and trim the deficit. He fought his way to the rim for back-to-back layups and the Buckeyes were again down seven. He polished off what became eight straight Ohio State points scored by him on a couple of mid-range jumpers to make it a 57-50 contest.
But it was no use. Minnesota answered with an 8-0 run, collecting threes from Hawkins and guard Cam Christie. The lead got as high as 17 for the Gophers after an old-fashioned three-point play from guard Braeden Carrington. The Buckeyes didn't claw back within single digits until less than two minutes remaining.
Thornton did all he could to extend the game down the stretch, scoring 13 Buckeye points in a row to cut the lead to single digits four times in the final two minutes, but Hawkins sank seven of eight free throws down the stretch to help seal Minnesota's win.
What's next
Ohio State completes the second half of its two-game road trip by traveling to Michigan State for a Sunday tilt. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. on CBS.
Game notes
- Battle’s streak of 38 straight made free throws was snapped when he missed his first attempt against the Gophers.
- Freshman Taison Chatman scored the first points of his Ohio State career, knocking down a floater with 6:42 to play in the first half. The No. 39 player in the 247Sports composite rankings, he was the highest-rated signee in the Buckeyes' eighth-ranked 2023 recruiting class.
- Former star Ohio State guard Mike Conley, an NBA All-Star currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves and member of the Buckeyes' 2006-07 national runner-up squad, was in attendance for the contest and sat behind OSU's bench.
