The Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9 ; 7-7) are fresh off a 81-70 win over Rutgers on Sunday and now will look to continue their strong home success this season against the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-11 ; 5-10) on Thursday at Williams Arena.
The Golden Gophers this season are 14-3 at The Barn and have won each of their last three at home after suffering back-to-back losses inside Williams Arena in early January at the hands of Iowa and Wisconsin. On the other end of the court, the Ohio State Buckeyes will be looking to put their road woes to an end. The Buckeyes are 0-7 this season away from Columbus.
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That being said, Ohio State is coming off their best win of the season, upsetting No. 2 Purdue 73-69 on Sunday in the interim coaching debut for Jake Diebler - making the Buckeyes a dangerous matchup entering Thursday evening despite the atrocious road record.
Thursday night will also mark the return to Williams Arena for former Gopher Jamison Battle. After playing 56 games for the Golden Gophers across the 2021-22, 2022-23 seasons, averaging 15.1 points per game, Battle has averaged 13.9 points per game across 26 games for the Buckeyes this season.
WHERE, WHEN, HOW TO WATCH, SPREADÂ Â
WHEN: Feb. 22, 2024 - 7:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Williams Arena (14,625) -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
TV/STREAM: BTN (Lisa Byington, pbp), Jess Settles (color)
Radio: KTLK (1130 AM/103.5 FM) (Mike Grimm, Al Nolen)
SPREAD: Minnesota -3.5pts / 139.5 over/under
ALL-TIME: 93-55 Ohio State (Minnesota is 37-33 at home)
Who is Minnesota's projected starting five? Â
PLAYER TO WATCH: Pharrel Payne is Thursday's player to watch. The forward had a major game against Rutgers scoring 21 points. The Cottage Grove native has had his ups-and-downs recently but perhaps the strong performance on Sunday could be a catalyst to a strong finish of the regular season for Payne.
Who is Ohio State's projected starting five? Â
PLAYER TO WATCH: While he may not be the highest scorer for Ohio State coming into Thursday's matchup. Former Gopher Jamison Battle is our player to watch in this one. The Robbinsdale, Minnesota native is coming off a 19-point performance in the Buckeyes' 73-69 win over Purdue. He has 21, 17, 19, and 19 point performances in Ohio State's last six games.
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