Buckeyes Bothered by Minnesota’s Physicality

Ohio State struggled in an all-around physical match-up on the road against the Golden Gophers.

A few things bothered Ohio State in its loss to Minnesota - turnovers, a poor shooting night, etc. - but high up on that list was the physicality of the Golden Gophers.

“Give Minnesota credit,” Coach Chris Holtmann said. “I thought they really played well. Their physicality bothered us. This was certainly the most physical game we’ve played in. We’ve got to find a way to play better here moving forward.”

Minnesota’s bigs certainly posed a problem, especially Liam Robbins who was matched up with E.J. Liddell. Robbins came away with a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds to go with five blocks; meanwhile, Liddell struggled all night with a 3-for-11 showing on the floor.

Liddell took a lot of credit for the team’s struggles on himself, saying, “We weren’t physical enough. I put that on myself. I just put that on myself and I felt like I let down my team.”

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Liddell added, “I’m just very disappointed in myself. I gotta get better, a lot better, if we want to win some games in this conference, because my team needs me. I just can't let them down like that again. I just feel like I gotta come out from the jump and play better.”

Holtmann wouldn’t pin responsibility on any one player as the Golden Gophers caused headaches all across the floor.

“It wasn’t just their big size. Their guards are very physical, very physical, and we didn’t handle it well. We didn’t handle the stuff that you need to handle in a game that’s this physical. It was not just by any stretch E.J., it was across the board. Certainly, that’s my fault. We’ve got to get them more ready for that level of physicality.”

Preparation will be key for the rest of the B1G season as the rest of conference play will certainly prove to be just as physical as the Buckeyes’ test was this evening.

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