Justin Ahrens was in the corner waiting on an inbound.

The senior forward had been ice cold, but he still couldn’t find room, bricking each of his first two attempts for Ohio State in the first half on the road against Minnesota.

Whether it was just the play call or a lapse in judgment by a Golden Gophers defender, Ahrens found an open look from the corner 19 seconds into the second half, becoming the Ahrens of old.

He took the inbound pass, adjusted and fired. Sunk. 3.

Instead of opening the floodgates from deep, it created a level of intensity inside Ohio State that has rarely been shown this season, has rarely been shown shown at The Barn as of late.

It’s the intensity inside, the offensive rebounds from junior forward E.J. Liddell — who became the 60th player in Ohio State history to reach 1,000 career points — and freshman guard Malaki Branham, the offensive consistency from redshirt senior Kyle Young in and around the paint, that gave Ohio State its first win against Minnesota inside Williams Arena since 2015, beating the Golden Gophers, 75-64 Thursday night.

Ohio State’s 11-point win against Minnesota was head coach Chris Holtmann’s 100th career win for the Buckeyes, one of seven coaches to reach the milestone in Ohio State history.

Liddell led the team with 23 points, making nine of his 14 attempts from the field.

Thursday night’s win was also Ohio State’s first conference road win since Jan. 2.

Here are a few takeaways from Thursday night's win against the Golden Gophers.

E.J. Liddell did enough to reach his milestone Thursday night.

Early in the second half, the junior forward bullied his way in the paint, putting up a layup and drawing contact for a three-point play. The ensuing free-throw make became history for Liddell, becoming the 60th player in Ohio State history to reach 1,000 career points 51 seconds into the second half.

But looking at the full picture of what Liddell’s night was at The Barn, it wasn’t about scoring...

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