Ohio State can't sustain momentum from Purdue, loses record-setting game at Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS – The unmistakable smell of stale beer wafted around the staircase leading to Ohio State's subterranean locker room at Williams Arena.
Seated just nearby, close enough for it to drip down the walls, a fan had accidentally spilled his alcoholic beverage just as the Buckeyes were headed off the court during pregame warmups. Quickly, the arena staff grabbed towels and tried to take care of the residue as the odor remained.
It might have been Tropical Night inside The Barn, but the party was clearly over for Ohio State. Four days removed from a shocking upset of No. 2 Purdue back home at Value City Arena, the comedown for the Buckeyes was as sobering as the morning-after cleanup following an all-night rager.
The final: Minnesota 88, Ohio State 79. The temporary rejuvenation that came from firing coach Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14 was no match for the low-post duo of Dawson Garcia and Pharrel Payne or the playmaking of Elijah Hawkins.
"I feel like Minnesota was the tougher team," sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said. "I feel like we’ve got to bring more energy and more pop, especially on the road. We can’t let that Purdue game determine who we are. We’ve got to build on that. We will have a much better approach going into Michigan State."
Ohio State has now lost a program-record 17 straight road games. The last such win took place Jan. 1, 2023, at Northwestern – 417 days ago. The loss at Minnesota means each Big Ten team has now contributed to the streak.
The Minnesota student section, clad in Gophers-themed tropical shirts, celebrated every miscue and booed every time Jamison Battle touched the ball. The Minnesota transfer and Minneapolis native who spent the last two seasons calling Williams Arena home drew the focus of the crowd, often via expletive-filled chants, but finished with 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
Ohio State kept pressuring and fighting, getting within seven points with 18.3 seconds left when Bruce Thornton hit two free throws, but Minnesota closed it out at the line.
Thornton led the Buckeyes with 25 points. Hawkins had 24 points and seven assists while Garcia had 22 points and nine rebounds.
To call Ohio State’s start a nightmare would be a disservice to Pennywise, Leatherface and the spookiest slasher flick that haunts your dreams, and it was a sign of what was to come. Minnesota scored on the first three possessions of the game to build an 8-0 lead, and after an Evan Mahaffey steal led to a Bruce Thornton bucket the Gophers resumed torching the nets.
Mike Mitchell Jr. hit a 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim and banked through the net. Garcia spun around Felix Okpara for an easy lay-in. When Minnesota finally missed, after hitting its first seven shots (including four 3s), Garcia was still there to draw a foul on the put-back. He hit the free throws with 14:30 left, giving the Gophers a 21-9 lead and moving them to a stunning average of 2.3 points per possession.
In all, Ohio State allowed Minnesota to score on 10 of its first 11 possessions while digging a 22-9 hole. It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t shaping up to be Ohio State’s night when both Roddy Gayle Jr. and Battle, both of whom entered the game having hit 38 straight free throws, each missed their first attempts of the night.
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Yet, the Buckeyes managed to fight back, twice pulling even with the Gophers during the first half. A Battle 3-pointer from just left of straight-on tied it at 30 with 5:24 left, and when Pharrel Payne finished a Mitchell dish to reclaim the lead Ohio State answered when Gayle nabbed a Taison Chatman 3-point misfire and laid it in. The Buckeyes had a chance to take the lead, but Gayle missed a transition 3 and Braeden Carrington converted a second-chance opportunity in the paint to start a 10-2 Minnesota run to close the half.
"I thought our start and our end in the first half was the biggest difference," Diebler said. "We didn’t start the game well enough and we didn’t finish the half well enough. Outside of that, I thought we competed. I thought we played hard. We certainly could’ve made some better decisions here or there, and we needed to rebound better. We just didn’t quite execute that well enough."
Minnesota doubled up Ohio State on the glass at the half, 18-9, and finished with a 32-26 advantage. It would lead by as many as 17 points in winning its second consecutive game.
Ohio State freshman guard and Minneapolis native Taison Chatman scored his first career points on a drive and finish in the paint with 6:42 left in the first half. He was booed as the game progressed, but not nearly to the same extent as Battle.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Minnesota hands Ohio State program record-setting road loss