Buckeye Blogger NetworkIn a lengthy regular season that results in a conference tournament followed by a national championship tournament, it’s hard to call a game on a Wednesday night against Minnesota a “must win” game. But that’s exactly what tonight’s battle at the Schottenstein Center with the Minnesota Golden Gophers was for our Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team. Coming off a horrible loss on Sunday at Wisconsin and with Michigan State looming this Sunday, the Buckeyes needed the Gophers to right the ship and did just that in a convincing 71-45 win.
With the win the Buckeyes improve to 19-7 on the year, 9-5 in the Big Ten.
Deshaun Thomas
Aaron Craft’s buzzer beating three ended what was a first half of missed opportunities for Ohio State. The Buckeye defense regained its lost mojo and forced Minnesota into 12 first half turnovers but could only convert the miscues into ten points. The Bucks lead 29-23 at the half, but you had the feeling they could have blown the game wide open at several different spots.
The second half turned out to be a different story. The Buckeyes continued to clamp down on defense, meanwhile shots began to fall and easy transition buckets found them up 41-31 at the 12:00 mark and they never looked back.
Deshaun Thomas led all scorers with 19. He was followed for Ohio State by Shannon Scott with 11 and Laquinton Ross with 10. Minnesota was led by Andre Hollins with 11 and Oto Osnieks with 10.
The Buckeyes have now won 6 straight over the Golden Gophers. Tonight’s 26 point win is the largest in the series with Minnesota since the Buckeyes abused the Gophers 94-63 on March 4th 1992. Read More
On Its Way
This week, Ohio State faces a Purdue coach that’s undefeated* against them, and seeks to rebound from a horrible defensive showing at Indiana. So, yeah- our soundtrack is something that should be harped on, even if it seems a little paranoid.
Buckeye 411
All The Better To Hear You With
Buckeye 411
Having survived a scare from Purdue, the Buckeyes couldn’t enjoy the same fate against the Spartans. MSU came in with the ultimate game plan against Jared Sullinger and shut down the Buckeyes star in route to a 10 point victory and holding them to 26% shooting from the floor. The Bucks have to regroupe and in a hurry as they travel to Minnesota and take on a sub .500 team in the conference(5-7) that always give the Buckeyes fits in “The Barn”.
After suffering their first home loss in a good while, the Buckeyes look to knock Goldy's buck teeth down his throat!!
| School: | University of Minnesota |
| Location: | Minneapolis and St.Paul,Minnesota |
| Founded: | 1851 – The original Minneapolis campus overlooked the Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River, but it was later moved about a mile downstream to its current location. |
| Student Population: | 52,557 – 4th largest in the U.S. |
| School Type: | Public Flagship University Land-Grant Sea-Grant Space-Grant |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Stadium: | Williams Arena – “The Barn” One of a few raised floors in the country |
| Seating: | 14,625 |
| Built: | 1927 – Remodeled in 1992 for $42 million |
| Head Coach: | Tubby Smith –High Point College ‘73 |
| Experience & Accomplishments | 20 Year – 1 National title at UK, 5 time Conference COY, three time National COY and is 467-198 headed into this season and has 17 consecutive 20 win seasons |
Jon Diebler once again extended his string of consecutive games with a 3-pointer
The Ohio State basketball team traveled to the Twin Cities on Sunday to play the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in another matchup of ranked teams in the Big Ten this year. Despite some sloppy play at times, the Buckeyes earned a solid 82-69 victory, taking their record to 24-0 on the season. The win serves as another quality road W for Ohio State and further legitimizes their spot as the #1 ranked team in the country.
The first half got off to a fast-paced start, with both teams running the floor and shooting early in the shot clock. The Buckeyes got multiple players involved early, as Sullinger, Lighty, Diebler, and Buford all picked up baskets in the first few minutes. Ohio State opened up an early lead but Minnesota kept it close, first courtesy of hot shooting by Blake Hoffarber and later in the half due to strong play on the offensive end by Ralph Sampson III, who scored on a variety of jumpers, lay-in’s, and free throws.
Going into the half, David Lighty led the way with 13 points for the Buckeyes, who were up by a score of 38-30. The senior leader came out very aggressive in the game, demonstrating both his usual defensive intensity and a willingness to look for his shot. At the start of the game Lighty drove strong to the hoop for his points, and later displayed an outside touch, knocking down two contested three-pointers. Jared Sullinger only logged 6 points in the first, a credit to Minnesota’s interior defense, but the freshman big man was able to contribute 8 rebounds. Read More
Despite what it may look like, they didn't just pull a guy off the street. I really am the new head coach for the rest of the season.
Well, this is awkward. This week we feature Jeff Horton, the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers…for the time being. If you’re not up on the news, here’s the scenario: Entering the season, Minnesota was led by Tim Brewster, who was entering his fourth season as head coach of the Gophers. After winning their first game, Brewster’s team dropped their next six in a row, leading to the coach’s untimely firing. Enter Horton, who previously held the post of offensive coordinator and was charged with taking the team forward over the remaining five games of the season.
Initially this may seem like a golden (no pun intended) opportunity for a coach. Sure, your newly “acquired” team is struggling, but that just means you have nowhere to go but up! You’re suddenly at the forefront of a major college program, you’ve got nothing to lose, and you can essentially treat things as if you’re starting from scratch. This is one perspective. The following is an alternative perspective: You’ve suddenly been given an impossible task, or at least something pretty close. Your team’s morale is at an all-time low. You’re not sure what type of support you’re going to have over the remainder of the year. And your last five games are against Penn State, #10 Ohio State, #5 Michigan State, Illinois, and #18 Iowa. This might be a no-win scenario. Literally.
