It took a little over 5 minutes in the second half to finally take the lead but once they did, the Buckeyes of Ohio State didn’t relinquish it. Scoring a whopping 46 points in the second half after being held to a season low 18 in the first, The Buckeyes came from behind for a 64-46 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The second half domination was led by Sam Thompson who scored 16 of his game high 19 in the second half. Thompson seems to be thriving in his role as starter after coming off the bench for most of the year and has scored in double figures the last two games.
In the first matchup of these two teams, Minnesota outrebounded the Buckeyes and forced 18 turnovers en route to a 10 point victory at Williams Arena. This time around, Ohio State(22-6,9-6) took the rebounding advantage by 10 and only had 11 turnovers. The Buckeyes made a concerted effort to hit the glass with LaQuinton Ross, Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr tying for the team lead with 6 rebounds. Ohio State also got a solid effort in points from Smith Jr. with 13 as he got the second half surge started with scoring the first 2 baskets.
Minnesota(17-11,6-9) was led in the scoring column by Andre Hollins with 13 and Deandre Mathieu only a point behind with 12. Center Elliot Eliason, who was a force in the last matchup, got in early foul trouble and finished with only 4 points. For a team trying to stay off the NCAA tournament bubble, every game is a big one and Minnesota can’t afford to stumble during the stretch run. On the other end of the court, the Buckeyes are solidifiying their resume for the tournament having assured themselves of at least a .500 record in conference play.
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