The Buckeyes are now 2-2 in Big Ten play and will host Oregon next on Thursday.
The Ohio State Buckeyes (10-5, 2-2) picked up a key conference road win against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-7, 0-4) 89-88 in double-overtime to get to .500 in conference play. Bruce Thornton has had the Gophers’ number, scoring 26 and 25 in the two meetings respectively last season, but he was not the star for the Buckeyes in regulation.
Sophomore Devin Royal led the way for the Buckeyes putting up 19 points before the overtime periods, including a dunk with five seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 64. But Thornton opened up the second overtime with a three-pointer to give the visitors a 76-73 advantage, starting Ohio State’s run to the much-needed road victory.
Coming into the contest, OSU had lost 21 of its last 22 conference road games, a trend Jake Diebler’s squad was all too happy to buck. The difference in the game is that the visiting Buckeyes were 16-for-17 from the charity stripe in the extra periods while the Gophers were just 5-for-11.
Coming in, Ohio State was 1-4 in its last five trips to the Barn and lost by an average of 12.3 points per game, but OSU won the tip, and John Mobley Jr. drove to the paint and recorded the first basket of the game.
Dawson Garcia has been a Buckeye killer, averaging 28.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game in three career games, but he started off slow from the field, missing his first three shots. Picking up the slack was super senior center Parker Fox who recorded seven of Minnesota’s first 10 points and was 3-for-3 from the field.
Devin Royal recorded four quick points for Ohio State, and baskets from Aaron Bradshaw and John Mobley gave the Buckeyes eight points.
Minnesota led 10-8 after the first media timeout. While Fox was 3-for-3 from the field, the rest of Minnesota was 1-for-7 from the field.
Gopher freshman Colin White entered the game and immediately knocked down a corner three-pointer to give the Buckeyes the lead. Two quick baskets from Minnesota gave them a 14-11 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
In the first eight minutes of the game, Ohio State shot 4-for-11 from the field and 1-for-4 from three-point range, while Minnesota shot 6-for-13 from the field and 1-for-5 from three-point range.
Thornton — Ohio State’s star point guard — didn’t score his first points of the game until there was 11:15 remaining in the first half. Ohio State led 20-18 at the under-8 timeout after a three-pointer from Thornton and a basket from Royal. Femi Odukale and Micah Parrish traded three-pointers, and Ohio State led 25-23 at the under-4 media timeout.
Both teams went ice cold to end the half, and Minnesota took a 28-27 lead into the break. Ohio State shot 10-for-30 from the field and just 3-for-15 from three-point range. Minnesota was not much better, shooting 12-for-31 from the field and 3-for-12 from three-point range.
Fox led all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-6 from the field for Minnesota. Isaac Asuma added seven points. Garcia, who averages 19.8 points per game, had zero points on 0-for-6 shooting in the first half.
Royal led the way for the Buckeyes with eight points, while Thornton added five points on 2-for-4 shooting. Minnesota outrebounded Ohio State 22-18 in the first half, and Ohio State did not score in the last 2:18 of the half.
To open the second half, Royal quickly picked up four points, but Minnesota answered and took a 35-33 lead into the under-16 media timeout. Trey Edmonds picked up a technical foul for arguing a foul call, and Thornton made two free throws to tie the game. After a Garcia turnover, Ques Glover picked up his first points of the game on a reverse layup to give Ohio State the lead.
Garcia answered with his first points of the day with a three-pointer from the corner, and then Thornton recorded a layup to continue the back-and-forth. Four more lead changes after three-pointers from Mitchell, Mobley, Asuma, and Glover to give this game 22 lead changes in this game with still 12 minutes remaining. Minnesota went on a 7-0 run to take a 51-47 lead at the under-12 timeout.
Minnesota continued to keep the Buckeyes at arm’s length, leading 61-58 with three minutes left in the game. Ohio State could never put together a run on offense to take the lead in the middle part of the second half.
OSU’s Parrish tied the game at 62, but a Fox steal and Garcia dunk gave Minnesota a two-point lead with 1:14 remaining.
Another Buckeye turnover gave Minnesota the ball, as Glover lost his footing on a drive to the basket. The Buckeyes got the ball back down two points, and Mobley found Royal for a dunk and foul. Garcia was called for the foul and fouled out with five points.
Royal missed the free throw, but Ohio State was able to get the offensive rebound, and Glover and Mahaffey both missed putbacks to send the game into overtime. Stewart is fouled out for Ohio State, and Garcia is fouled out for Minnesota.
In overtime, Patterson made a layup to give Minnesota a 70-66 lead with 1:27 left in the game. Thornton was then fouled on a drive and made both free throws to cut the Minnesota lead to two. Fox knocked down a jumper to put the Gopher lead back to four points.
Parrish made two free throws, and Minnesota led 72-70 with 39 seconds left. Minnesota turned the ball over, but a Parrish travel gave the ball back to the Gophers. Asuma was fouled and missed the first and made the second. John Mobley also split free throws for Ohio State and Minnesota, leading 73-71 with six seconds left. Mitchell missed two free throws, and Mobley was fouled to give Ohio State a chance at the tie.
Mobley made both, and Minnesota missed at the buzzer, and we headed to a second five-minute overtime period.
Thornton made a three-pointer, and Bradshaw converted an and-one to quickly give Ohio State a 79-73 lead. Ohio State built an eight-point lead at 83-75 before the Gophers started crawling back. Fox made a quick layup, and Kadyn Betts split a pair of free throws to cut Ohio State’s lead to five. Mobley made two free throws, and then Patterson made a three to make it 85-82. Glover was fouled, and he hit two free throws, but Mitchell hit a three to cut the Ohio State lead to only two points. Glover made two free throws to ice the game and give Ohio State the 89-88 win.
Up Next
As is life in Big Ten conference play, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Buckeyes. On Thursday, Jan. 9, OSU will host No. 15 Oregon, who is 13-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference, at 6 p.m. ET at the Schottenstein Center. The Ducks are coming off of a home loss to Illinois and a home win over Maryland in their last two games.