Minnesota scored their first Big Ten win of the season on Thursday, taking down Ohio State 70-67 at Value City Arena in Columbus.
With the win, the Gophers improve to 7-8 on the season and 1-4 in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State drops to 10-6 on the season, 2-3 in conference.
TGR breaks down how the Gophers pulled off the upset over the Buckeyes.
IT WAS OVER WHEN: Minnesota didn't score a field goal in the final 5:15 of the game, instead having to rely on free-throws to close out the game. The Gophers, the Big Ten's worst free-throw shooting team, went 6-of-10 down the stretch to secure the victory. The nail in the coffin came after a Ta'lon Cooper free-throw that put Minnesota up 68-67 with 1.4 seconds remaining. Ohio State would air-mail the inbounds attempt out-of-bounds on the other end of the court. Dawson Garcia capped the victory with two additional free-throws for the Gophers.
HE STOLE THE SHOW: Dawson Garcia once again gets the nod for the Gophers, finishing with a team-high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and three assists and finished 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
THE STAT DOESN'T LIE: The Gophers were efficient from the field on Thursday, finishing 50% from the field (27-54) and also had 12 assists compared to nine turnovers. However, the stat that proved to be the difference was the aforementioned free-throw shooting. Minnesota finished 9-of-16 from the charity stripe on the night, but most importantly they were 6-of-10 in the final 2:06 of play. That's normally not something to brag about, considering the Gophers' woes from the free-throw line all season (59% on the year). However, they did enough from the line to secure a huge road win on Thursday night and quite frankly, that's all that matters.
FRESHMAN FOCUS: Freshman forward Pharrel Payne had a stellar outing, recording 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with three rebounds. Payne finished in a variety of ways around the basket, showing finesse scoring with a layup over two defenders and displaying a turnaround hook shot with his back to the basket as well. Payne did have five turnovers, but you take the good with the bad with a true freshman, especially one that continues to show tremendous upside as a low post presence.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota desperately needed this win. Their play has steadily improved since Big Ten play began and they've suffered close losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska in their last two outings. A win against the Buckeyes and securing their first Big Ten win of the season could exude some confidence in Ben Johnson's squad with home tilts against Illinois and Purdue on the horizon. The Big Ten schedule is a meat-grinder.
NOTES:
- Ohio State had 18 second-chance points, compared to just four for Minnesota.
- Minnesota scored 13 points off turnovers, compared to just two for Ohio State.
- Minnesota was out rebounded 39 to 32 on the night, but the most glaring stat came on the offensive glass, where the Gophers were out rebounded 14 to four.
- Ohio State outscored Minnesota in the paint, 32 to 26.
- Along with Garcia, Minnesota had four players score in double figures. The others were Ta'lon Cooper (13), Jamison Battle (11), and Payne (10).
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @SeanW_Rivals, @DylanCC_FB, @JaredHalus
- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report.
