Ohio State 64 - #19 Minnesota 58

Surviving what had been an awful shooting night, the Ohio State Buckeyes (17-5) were able to hold on late thanks to some Evan Turner free-throws to defeat the Minnesota Gophers (18-5) 64-58.

 

It’s get confusing sometimes when people use the Big Ten conference to describe itself. There are many definitions of what personality a game needs to take to be a “Big Ten” game, but whatever variance surely includes rough and tumble. Saturday night was a “Big Ten” basketball game. In it there were 33 personal fouls, 27 turnovers, and the best shooting percentage either team could put up was the Buckeyes 42.3%. If that wasn’t rough enough, these two great defenses put together great d-stats, compiling a combined 9 blocks and 18 steals.

 

Evan Turner had an awful shooting night, hitting only 4 of 14 shots. Even when he got into the lane, the angles he was allowed to take made lay-ups incredibly difficult. Difficulties aside, it was Turner’s free throws at the end of the game that ensured the Buckeyes victory, in the end hitting 10 of his 12 attempts. Despite not being able to get any rhythm all night, he was still able to put together another great line, with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal.

 

Four other Buckeyes barely snuck into the double-digits, with only B.J. Mullens and Jeremie Simmons shooting with any great effectiveness, Mullens due to his shot choice of dunking the ball quite swiftly. Though Mullens’ plays were of the spectacular nature, it was Simmons who was finally able to play smoothly through the Buckeyes offense, keeping them viable while they took their lumps from the Minnesota defense.

 

For Minnesota it was only the deep ball of guard Blake Hoffarber, who hit 6 of 10 from three for 19 points that allowed them to stay in the game. Every time the Buckeyes would put the game out of reach it was Hoffarber who would immediately hit a 26-foot shot with two hands in his face. After Hoffarber it was only Damian Johnson who put up any real numbers, with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

 

Who knew the Buckeyes could play this well on back-to-back games without David Light in the line-up? It was truly, nationally impressive for the Buckeyes to defend their home court twice against nationally ranked teams. What is now a possibility is high as a 4 seed in the Big Dance, and an outside shot at a Big Ten Title. We’ll see, but right now feels pretty damn good.