COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chris Holtmann doesn’t believe in a “tale of two halves” in Big Ten play.

The Ohio State head coach launched into an impassioned postgame soliloquy directed at fans who felt that the Buckeyes — the No. 18 team in the nation, the No. 4 team in the Big Ten — should be blowing teams out from the jump, leaving for the halftime break with a secure, double-digit lead already in hand.

“Like, come on now,” Holtmann scoffed. “Have you ever played?”

The head coach instead described winning in Big Ten play, no matter where the opponent is ranked, as a “slow drip,” stringing successful single possessions together to allow his team to stretch its lead late.

It’s what Ohio State did against Minnesota.

After struggling with the Golden Gophers’ zone in the first half, leaving for the halftime break with 23 points and too many turnovers despite an elite defensive performance on the other end, that slow drip began with each made 3, with each defensive stop.

Ohio State began to stretch its lead and dominated against a Minnesota team that has struggled in Big Ten play.

The “slow drip” quickly became an overflow of offensive efficiency and defensive prowess.

But based on Jamari Wheeler’s performance, a “tale of two halves” is really the only way to describe what happened Tuesday night.

To the redshirt senior guard, the first 20 minutes of the 25-point win was the worst half of basketball Ohio State has played all season.

And it started with him.

Wheeler was the first to admit he wasn’t himself: recording two “dumb” fouls in the first two minutes, forcing himself to the bench, watching a stagnant and lethargic offense just standing there, unable to penetrate Minnesota’s zone no matter how many shots were forced up.

“We were just lazy, basically,” Wheeler said.

Ohio State needed a spark.

Wheeler is used to being that spark on the defensive end, turning defense into offense just with a quick swipe of the basketball, or with his playmaking abilities as a point guard, setting up highlight-reel plays from the backcourt.

And at the beginning of the second half, down two points, that was the original intention for Ohio State's offense.

Assistant coach Ryan Pedon had given the Buckeyes a game plan on how to solve Minnesota’s zone, and the offense was trying to put it into practice: pushing the ball inside with all its might, trying desperately to set the tone with either E.J. Liddell or Zed Key in the paint.

Instead, getting the attention of both forward Jamison Battle and guard Payton Willis on the double-team, Liddell shot the ball back to Wheeler with three seconds left on the shot clock, wide open, facing a defense that was pretty much daring the redshirt senior guard to shoot.

“We played off of him and wanted to see if he could beat us from 3 and kind of crowd the paint,” Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson admitted.

That’s what Wheeler, a 37.5% 3-point shooter on the year, wanted.

“I love when they do that,” he said. “Easy points for me.”

The ball circled in, flipping the narrative from a two-point deficit to a one-point lead Ohio State would not give back.

And in that comeback, setting the tone over the course of the first eight-and-a-half minutes of play in the second half, Wheeler was a big part of it.

The guard couldn’t miss, scoring 11 of the Buckeyes’ 24 points with three 3-point makes on three tries and a fast-break layup off a steal: what the Penn State transfer is known for.

Holtmann knows Wheeler can shoot, though.

He knows that the guard’s release may not be as quick as someone like Duane Washington Jr.’s was. But Wheeler's accurate, fully trusting in the career 31.6% 3-point shooter to make those wide-open looks.

“Absolute green light,” Holtmann said. “Needs to take it, want him to take it. Doesn’t need to hesitate at all. He has an open 3 with time and space.”

When Wheeler didn’t hesitate, the rest of the offense didn’t either. His success found Liddell, scoring 12 second-half points en route to his sixth double-double of the season.

Wheeler finished Tuesday with 13 points, his most in a game since scoring 16 against Nebraska Jan. 2, showing similar aggressiveness from 3 with four makes on five tries.

That’s all it is for Wheeler: aggressiveness.

It’s what he is on the defensive end, something that put him in trouble early defensively. But it’s what forced Holtmann to keep him in the game even with two fouls in the first half, wanting his best five players on the floor for as long as possible.

Aggressiveness is what Wheeler’s known for. It’s what made Ohio State want to take a chance on him in the transfer portal in the first place.

But it was different Tuesday night, igniting an offense when the Buckeyes really needed it.

“Be more aggressive, especially when they give it to me,” Wheeler said when asked about his approach offensively. “Don’t force shots, but take the good ones.”

All Johnson could do after the game was give Wheeler credit.

He just took what the Golden Gophers defense was giving him.

“He probably did that because he plays with that energy, he plays with that spirit,” Johnson said. “I think when you do that, the basketball gods will reward you.”