COLUMBUS, Ohio - Things were looking pretty good for the men's basketball team the last time that Minnesota showed up on the schedule.
At the time in mid-December, the Buckeyes were coming off a 106-72 thrashing of Penn State and holding a 9-0 record, possibly just a win or two away from becoming the No. 1 team in the nation.
Then, Minnesota brought the winning streak to an end. A new streak of sorts, however, began as Ohio State would go on to lose six of their next nine, including the fateful loss at Minnesota.
On the other hand, the Gophers, including their win at home against the Buckeyes, have won six of their last nine, so Thursday night's contest will feature two teams who have gone on very different paths since the turn of the decade.
The immediate challenge for Ohio State will be stopping Minnesota's guard Marcus Carr, who dropped 35 against the Buckeyes and has at least 20 points in three of their last six games.
Carr is shooting 37 percent from the field and is dishing out over seven assists per game. Averaging almost 37 minutes per game, Minnesota's offense surges through Carr, so any hope for Ohio State of turning things around at home against the Gophers rests on slowing down Carr, as few teams have been able to contain him.
The six foot ten inch center Daniel Oturu had only 14 points against Ohio State, but this was his second lowest scoring output of the season as he's had at least 20 points in six of Minnesota's last eight games.
"They've really had fantastic Big Ten seasons. If you look at their numbers, they're off the charts for both those guys," Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said. "They are certainly playing at All-Big Ten caliber level, both guys. They've got other really good players."
Stopping the powerful duo will require a strong defensive performance from the Buckeyes who haven't given up a ton of points but are still allowing teams to shoot 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range.
Big Ten play has been especially tough this season, especially so on the road where the Buckeyes have played four of their seven conference games, and Holtmann said Ohio State wasn't properly tested before they got to conference play.
"I'm not sure that got really challenged a whole lot in the non-conference...we just didn't get tested in that way," Holtmann said. "We didn't get tested on the road in that way. We didn't get tested on neutral situations in that. As soon as we got into Big Ten play we've gotten tested for sure."
It's difficult to nail down exactly why Ohio State has struggled so much of as late, but there are certainly a few factors to look at. Turnovers have been a challenge all season, shooting has declined since conference play has started, and the defense just hasn't been there over the last few games.
For D.J. Carton, the struggles have simply come from Ohio State losing the passion they played with early in the season, and for them to get back into the win column against Minnesota, they'll need to play as a connected team.
"We kind of missed that passion that people play with that we were at the beginning of the season," Carton said. "Overall just being more connected on the floor and playing for each other I think is the biggest thing that we need to switch up."
