INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 5 seeded Buckeyes came oh-so-close to letting a 12-point lead with less than 100 seconds left on the clock slip away against the No. 13 seeded Gophers in the second round of the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, but the Buckeyes were able to somehow, some way dig deep and find just enough to escape with a 79-75 win to advance to the quarterfinals against No. 4 Purdue and snap a four-game losing streak in the process.
Duane Washington would seal it at the line with a pair of free throws but it certainly was a much more dramatic and stressful end than it needed to be or seemed like it would be with Ohio State opening the game on a 13-0 run or opening up a 14-point second half lead. Washington would score 16 on the day, none bigger than those two final points. Justice Sueing would have 16 of his own after being shut down for the past week after a procedure for an injured groin. Five Buckeyes would score in double-figures.
Minnesota would be led by well-known Buckeye killer Marcus Carr and his 24 points, many of them coming during the furious comeback. Jamal Mashburn Jr. would have 18 points as well for the Gophers.
Turnovers, missed free throws and just general bad basketball down the stretch would lead to the wild finish as Minnesota's press bothered the Buckeyes greatly.
Carr would cut the Ohio State lead to just one-point with a three-pointer at the :13 mark of the game, in a game where Ohio State would lead the entire way. But the Buckeyes would make the free throws when they mattered most, despite being off for much of the day just going 19-28 from the line. Carr would score 11 points in the final 1:40 of the game,
"It is March so you have got to survive and advance, " guard CJ Walker said. "You have got to do what you have got to do win the game. Minnesota got going at the end and made some tough shots, got some turnovers. I thought we stayed connected… I felt that is what we did towards the end."
It is never easy snapping a losing streak and this game had a familiar feeling as Ohio State has seen leads evaporate during the course of this latest five-game stretch. This game could have been by far the most colossal of meltdowns however if it would have gotten away.
"I have watched enough college basketball to know that players aren’t perfect," Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said. "(Minnesota) made some plays, we missed a couple of free throws. We had a critical offensive foul there. But we also, CJ did a great job calling a timeout in a corner situation. EJ (Liddell) did a great job executing a baseline situation where he got fouled. It is part of the learning experience. There are a couple of things we can do better but they also made some tough shots."
The win, no matter how ugly it was now sets up a Friday game against Purdue, a team that Ohio State has lost to twice this season by a combined nine points.
The late-game run was not the only run that Ohio State would have to fight its way through as the Gophers would cut the margin to four points around the eight-minute mark but the Buckeyes would build the lead back up after going 7-7 shooting from the floor to get the lead back to 14.
Rewind about two hours prior and it seemed as if this game was going to be a walk in the park as the Buckeyes would run out to a 13-0 lead. The Gophers would not break through and get on the scoreboard until the 13:06 mark, but even with that the Buckeyes were far from perfect to start the game only putting up 13 points to the Gophers goose egg.
"A big emphasis for us today was to come out and throw that first punch," Sueing said. "The first time we played them during the regular season, they were the first ones to throw that punch and they were more aggressive in making those plays that mattered. We made it a big emphasis today to come out and make sure we were that team."
Even with all of the self-inflicted issues that the Buckeyes went through, Ohio State would take a 12-point lead to the halftime locker room as Liddell would lead the way with eight first-half points while a trio of Buckeyes would score seven (Washington, Sueing and Kyle Young). The 39 first-half points would be the most Ohio State had scored in an opening frame since the loss to Michigan.
The Buckeyes had one of their better games from the paint with 44 points down low, but the outside shot was not falling as the Buckeyes were only 4-12 from distance. Another area for concern is that the Buckeyes would only have four second chance points to Minnesota's 20 points coming off of 16 offensive rebounds.
Now Ohio State has less than 24 hours to get ready for a well-rested Purdue team in the quarterfinals. The Boilermakers have won their last five games to finish out the regular season. Friday's game will take place 25 minutes after the conclusion of the Maryland/Michigan game and will air on Big Ten Network.
