OSU opens up big lead, hangs on in final moments
Ohio State’s biggest lead in Big Ten play had come and nearly gone, but coach Thad Matta had an unusual second-half challenge for his players.
“I actually told our guys, ‘Stop looking at the scoreboard. Just play basketball,’ ” Matta said.
After opening up a 17-point lead in the first half and holding a 10-point advantage three times in the second half, the Buckeyes persevered through a late comeback challenge from Minnesota on Wednesday night before pulling out a 78-72 win in front of 11,206 fans at Value City Arena.
That sent the Golden Gophers (15-6, 3-5) to a fourth straight loss since beating Ohio State on Jan. 8 and gives the Buckeyes (13-8, 3-5) their best RPI win of the season.
Just like all but the game at Wisconsin nearly two weeks ago, it came down to the final possessions. The Buckeyes led 66-56 with 7:04 to go, and after Minnesota closed to two points on separate occasions, Marc Loving drilled a stepback three- pointer with 57 seconds left to push Ohio State ahead 75-69.
Akeem Springs answered with a three from the left corner nine seconds later, and the Gophers regained possession when they tied up Kam Williams on the inbounds pass and were awarded possession but immediately lost it when a pass deflected off Springs’ hands and out of bounds.
Still, the Buckeyes didn’t make it easy. JaQuan Lyle missed two free throws with 32.6 seconds left, but he redeemed himself after a missed threepointer by Springs that would have tied the score with 24 seconds to play.
Lyle hit two from the line with 20 seconds to go, pushing the game out of reach.
Loving’s shot gave him 19 points after having scored only five in 35 minutes Sunday during a loss to Northwestern.
“My teammates put me in some nice positions to make some pretty good shots down the stretch,” Loving said.
“I just ended up with the ball and shot it, and it happened to go in.”
It was Trevor Thompson who did the heavy lifting. With the Buckeyes feeding the junior in the post from the start, he scored 10 of Ohio State’s first 15 points and finished with a career- high 19 while adding 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
Minnesota coach Richard Pitino described Thompson as “probably the most improved player in the conference.”
“Our game plan was to get the ball in, but I only had one word for my mindset and that was win,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to win. That was all I was thinking about.”
The Gophers, ranked No. 18 in the RPI, closed the first half on a tear, making nine of their final 14 shots after missing 12 of their first 16. Ohio State’s halftime lead was trimmed to five points at 40- 35, thanks to a 12-0 run during the final 2: 46. Jordan Murphy capped it with a tip- in as time expired.
“We’ve been in similar situations and realize this is Big Ten basketball and it’s a grind,” Thompson said. “The biggest thing is embracing the fight and the flow of the game.”
Josh Okogie scored 35 points, and Georgia Tech (12-8, 4-4 ACC) pulled off its second home upset of a top-10 opponent. The Yellow Jackets also beat North Carolina last month. Florida State (18-3, 6-2) never got closer than 18 points in the second half. Michael Finke scored 17 points off the bench and led host Illinois (13-8, 3-5) over Iowa (11-10, 3-5) in a Big Ten game.