The Buckeyes look to continue their momentum after evening their Big Ten record last time out, but will be faced with a top-25 matchup.
No. 25 Ohio State (8-2, 2-2) seeks its first conference victory on the road as the team travels to No. 21 Minnesota (9-2, 2-2) for a matchup with the Golden Gophers on Sunday. The two teams met twice a season ago, and Minnesota took both matchups.
The Golden Gophers have yet to lose a game at Williams Arena this season, and took down the Buckeyes the last time they visited Minneapolis when Ohio State was ranked No. 3. In fact, The Buckeyes have not defeated the Golden Gophers on the road since Jan. 6, 2015.
Behind a season-high 18 points from junior forward Justin Ahrens, Ohio State is riding some momentum after a 90-54 home win over Nebraska. Twelve Buckeyes saw time on the floor, and 10 players scored at least one bucket.
Sophomore forward E.J. Liddell scored 14 points at Minnesota last season, and is coming off an eight-point, four-rebound game against the Huskers on Wednesday. The scoring barrage continued as starters Justice Sueing added 12 points and Duane Washington Jr. recorded 13.
Eighth-year head coach Richard Pitino will host the Buckeyes coming off a 71-59 loss at No. 6 Wisconsin on Thursday. The Golden Gophers have notched resume-boosting wins over then-No. 4 Iowa and No. 17 Michigan State.
Minnesota boasts the fifth-best scoring offense in the Big Ten with 82 points per game, but also possesses the conference’s fourth-worst scoring defense by allowing 73.6 points per game.
The Golden Gophers sport the Big Ten's second-worst field-goal percentage with 42.2% on the season. They also have the lowest 3-point field goal percentage with 30.1%. Minnesota likes to shoot from beyond the arc and isn't afraid if given the chance, outshooting opponents from the perimeter by more than 50 shots.
Junior Marcus Carr leads Minnesota in scoring with 22.7 points per game, which is the third-highest in the Big Ten. The 6-foot-2 guard scored a career-high 35 points against the Buckeyes a season ago on the same hardwood on which he will play Sunday, and matched that total against Green Bay in Minnesota’s season-opener.
Carr leads the conference in assists per game with 6.2, and also has the sixth-best assist-turnover ratio with 2.7. He’s also fourth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals per game with 2.5. It’s safe to say the Buckeyes must find a way to limit Carr’s success.
7-foot junior center Liam Robbins follows Carr’s scoring efforts with 13.0 points per game. He also leads Minnesota in rebounds with 7.0 per game, and leads the conference in blocks per game with 2.6. Robbins may be a matchup nightmare down low for Ohio State as size is not in the Buckeyes favor.
6-foot-6 junior guard Both Gach and 6-foot-4 guard Gabe Kalscheur round out the quartet of players who’ve started every game for Minnesota. Gach is second on the team in assists while Kalscheur leads the team in free-throw percentage with 90.5%.
It's unclear if the Buckeyes will see the return of redshirt-junior guard Musa Jallow, who was out of Wednesday's contest against Nebraska due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
Ohio State enters with the conference's ninth-best scoring offense with 77.9 points per game alongside the second-best scoring defense behind 65.1 points-allowed per game.
Collectively, the Buckeyes are shooting 44.9%. They're coming off one of their more complete defensive games after suppressing the Huskers to just 54 points, including just 21 in the first half.
Both Ohio State and Minnesota have won three of their last four games, and the former ranks 11th in Ken Pomeroy's rankings whereas the latter sits 34th. Head coach Chris Holtmann is 2-2 against the Golden Gophers.
The two teams will tipoff at 5:30 on Big Ten Network.
