The Minnesota Gophers have beat the Ohio State Buckeyes each of the last two times in Williams Arena. In 2019, the No. 3 Buckeyes lost to Minnesota 84-71. In 2021, the No. 25 Buckeyes lost to No. 21 Minnesota 77-60. The third time was not the charm for the Gophers, as Ohio State beat Minnesota 75-64.
The Gophers started strong and played like they belong with the Buckeyes with a score of 8-6 going into the first media timeout. Ohio State’s Malaki Branham started out hot with nine points and hit his first four shots from the field.
Minnesota took their first lead of the first half behind a Luke Loewe three-pointer to put the Gophers ahead 16-15. Loewe started out the game making his first three shots from the field. The two teams traded three-pointers and the Gophers led 19-18 around the seven-minute mark.
Unfortunately, Jamison Battle had a rough first half returning from injury, starting out the game 0-6. Despite Battle’s mishaps, he finally connected on a crucial three-pointer to return the lead back to Minnesota 29-27.
At the half, Ohio State led 32-30. The Buckeyes outrebounded Minnesota 23-13, with 11 of those boards from the offensive end. Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell nearly finished the first half with a double-double, shooting 9 points and hauling in 9 rebounds.
The Buckeyes started the second half strong, converting on a three-pointer by Justin Ahrens and a successful one-and-one opportunity from Liddell. In the blink of an eye, Ohio State went up 38-30 and would keep a steady 7-11 point lead throughout the next ten minutes. Zed Key and Kyle Young bruised the Gophers in the post, continuing to corral offensive rebounds and scoring second-chance lay-ins. This was where Minnesota really missed Eric Curry, who is still day-to-day nursing a left ankle injury.
“EJ, Kyle Young, Malaki, those guys are some beasts,” said head coach Ben Johnson. “They weren’t shooting well and they knew they had to crash the glass…there’s a reason why they’re the 16th best team in the country.”
At the midway point of the second half, Ohio State had a 15-3 advantage in rebounding and 20-6 advantage on points in the paint. After a Cedric Russell three-pointer, Ohio State led by 13 points, and continued to coast off of that lead until the finish. Jamison Battle led the way for Minnesota in the second half with 12 points and finished with 15.
The final score would be Ohio State 75, Minnesota 64 with Liddell serving as player of the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Buckeyes. Ohio State outrebounded Minnesota 48-22 and had 20 offensive boards compared to the Gophers’ six.
“It didn’t matter what lineup we had in there, we just could not find a way to get the ball,” Johnson said of the Gophers’ lack of rebounds. “They did a much better job than us of being physical and going up and getting the ball…that was the tale of the tape in the last 20 minutes especially.”
The Gophers play at rival No. 11 Wisconsin this Sunday at noon on the Big Ten Network. Jamison Battle and many other Gophers will be experiencing the border battle for the first time. “I don’t have a lot of bad blood with states, but I think Wisconsin is one of them,” Battle said.
