Ohio St. @ Minnesota preview
Williams Arena
Last Meeting ( Jan 23, 2020 ) Minnesota 62, Ohio St. 59
Ohio State and Minnesota are coming off blowouts, but from different perspectives, heading into their matchup Sunday in Minneapolis.
The No. 25 Buckeyes (8-2, 2-2 Big Ten) pounded visiting Nebraska 90-54 on Wednesday with five players scoring in double figures. It was their highest point total in a conference game since defeating Penn State 106-74 on Dec. 7, 2019.
"Overall a really solid performance," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said afterward. "Our ball movement was exceptional. That's what we have to continue to be. We'll take this one here, know it's unique and get ready for a really good Minnesota team on Sunday."
The No. 21 Golden Gophers (9-2, 2-2) had hoped to build off wins against Iowa (102-95 in overtime) and Michigan State (81-56) but instead trailed by 26 points at Wisconsin on Thursday before a surge in the final minutes made the 71-59 final look respectable.
It was a discouraging but familiar road performance by Minnesota, which lost its Big Ten opener 92-65 to Illinois on Dec. 15 before victories against the Hawkeyes and Spartans in Williams Arena, where the Gophers are 9-0.
"It's been a trend," Minnesota forward Brandon Johnson said of the road play. "That's what I kind of feared with us going on the road. Because it's a different environment."
Ohio State knows that feeling because it has lost both away conference games to Purdue and Northwestern. It's another story at home because the win vs. Nebraska had a similar tone to the 80-68 victory over Rutgers on Dec. 23.
The Buckeyes had huge runs in each to put the games out of reach. They broke a 13-13 tie with 15 straight points vs. the Cornhuskers, then opened the second half with a 16-5 stretch for a 54-26 lead.
"We have to always be ready to come and play because anyone any day can come in and defeat you," Ohio State forward Justice Sueing said. "Our attention to detail was big. We really locked in on personnel."
In the Rutgers game, the Buckeyes used a 16-0 run to go ahead after trailing by double digits.
Minnesota's failure to stop an opponent's momentum is still fresh. Trailing the Badgers 29-22 at the half, Wisconsin went on a 16-5 run for a 45-27 advantage.
Golden Gophers coach Richard Pitino said the game, as was the case in the loss to Illinois, came down to toughness.
"Illinois is very physical. Wisconsin is very physical. We didn't respond well to both of those," he said. "(The Badgers) were physical on the ball. They were pressuring us and we didn't respond well by moving the ball."
The result was not freeing Marcus Carr for good looks. He entered the game fourth nationally with 24.0 points per game but needed five points in the final minutes to finish with 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
For the Buckeyes, there is no word if guard Musa Jallow will be available. He did not play against Nebraska because of contact tracing for COVID-19.
--Field Level Media