Ohio State Drops Third Straight With 70-67 Loss To Minnesota

A questionable foul call on a late block attempt proved to be the difference in the Golden Gophers' victory over the Buckeyes.

The Ohio State men’s basketball team dropped its third straight game with a 70-67 loss to Minnesota at Value City Arena on Thursday night.

Final tonight #Team124 pic.twitter.com/yMwo4wsVeA

— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) January 13, 2023

The Buckeyes shot just 38 percent from the field but tied the game late when freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh knocked down a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining.

Freshman Bruce Thornton was called for a foul on the next possession, though it appeared that he got all ball on his block attempt, sending the Golden Gophers to the line for the go-ahead free throws with 1.7 left.

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Sensabaugh led the five Ohio State players in double figures with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Dawson Garcia scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the second half for Minnesota.

With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play. They’ll be back in action on Sunday at Rutgers, with tipoff set for 2:15 p.m. on BTN.

First Half:

• Junior guard Eugene Brown got the start in place of junior forward Zed Key, who missed Sunday’s loss at Maryland with a shoulder injury but checked into tonight’s game at the 17:05 mark of the first half.
• The Buckeyes started the game just 2-of-10 from the field as the Golden Gophers opened up an 11-6 lead at the under-16 timeout. That stretched to 31-23 behind 10 straight points from Garcia.
• Ohio State outscored Minnesota, 12-6, over the final 6:07 of the first half, with fifth-year senior Sean McNeil’s three-pointer and three free throws on back-to-back possessions tying the game at 35-all.
• Guard Ta’lon Cooper knocked down a jumper with 39 seconds on the clock to give the Golden Gophers a two-point lead heading into the break.
• The Buckeyes shot just 35 percent (12-of-34) from the field in the first half, but had seven offensive rebounds leading to nine second-chance points to help cut into the lead in the closing minutes.

Second Half:

• Garcia continued to lead the way for Minnesota, scoring seven of the Golden Gophers’ first nine points out of the break as they maintained a two-point lead at the under-16 timeout.
• Sensabaugh, who did not start the second half, checked in at the 13:28 mark and almost immediately gave Ohio State its first lead since it was 2-0 with an and-one layup, putting the Buckeyes up, 51-50.
• The lead was short-lived as Minnesota went on a quick 7-0 run, highlighted by Garcia’s putback of his own shot, which forced Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann to call a timeout with 10:38 left.
• Down 11 with just over five minutes remaining, Sensabaugh’s and-one cut the deficit to eight. The Buckeyes then switched to a full-court press, which led to a turnover, but they were unable to capitalize.
• Baskets by fifth-year senior forward Justice Sueing and McNeil trimmed the lead to four, while Minnesota split a pair of free throws following a blocking foul at the other end to push it back to five.
• Sensabaugh’s three-pointer with 31 seconds left cut it to two, while the Golden Gophers missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing him to draw a foul and tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
• Freshman Bruce Thornton appeared to have a clean block on a layup but was a called for a foul with 1.7 left. Cooper missed the first but made the second free throw for the win.

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