Gophers fall as Dawson Garcia can’t beat Buckeyes alone

Minnesota fell behind 30-12 early and trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half.

© Clare Grant/The Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Dawson Garcia was a force Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, scoring 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds against the Buckeyes in Minnesota's Big Ten opener. But it wasn't nearly enough as Ohio State took control early and cruised to an 84-74 victory. 

Bruce Thornton scored 26 for the Buckeyes and Jamison Battled netted 25 points against his former team.

Ohio State took control of the game with a pair of 11-0 runs in the first half. They grew the lead to as many as 22 points (42-20) before a 10-0 Minnesota run cut into the deficit, but the Gophers trailed 42-28 at the half and were down by double digits for the majority of the game. 

The Buckeyes, now 7-1 overall, ballooned the lead back to 20 points less than five minutes into the second half before Garcia went wild, bringing Minnesota all the way to back within six points at 70-64 with 3:53 and again at 72-66 after a Cam Christie bucket the next trip down the court, but that's as close as the Gophers would get. 

Garcia's second half was phenomenal, scoring 28 of his 36 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He's now averaging 20.5 points per game through eight games. 

But Garcia didn't get much help from the rest of the starting lineup. Like, almost literally. 

• Elijah Hawkins: 10 point, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
• Braeden Carrington: 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist in 12 minutes
• Dawson Garcia: 36 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
• Isaiah Ihnen: 0 of everything except for 3 fouls in 7 minutes
• Josh Ola-Joseph: 7 points, 4 rebounds in 20 minutes

One has to wonder if changes to the starting lineup are coming after duds from Ihnen and Carrington. Pharrel Payne had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 31 minutes off the bench; Christie had 11 points in 27 minutes off the bench; and Mike Mitchell had just 4 points in 24 minutes off the pine. 

Could Minnesota's starting lineup when they return to action Wednesday against Nebraska feature Hawkins, Christie, Ola-Joseph, Garcia and Payne? Time will tell, but at 5-3 overall the Gophers need to find lineup combinations that don't get dominated for long stretches of play like they have in all three losses to Marquette, San Francisco and Ohio State.