Gopher basketball trailed by 11 points in the second half before battling back to force overtime in Columbus. This game had 11 ties, 18 lead changes and regulation ended on a Langston Reynolds contested
layup that rimmed out before heading to overtime. In the extra period, Ohio State jumped quickly to a five-point lead and extended it to hold off Minnesota. This is the fourth consecutive loss for the Gophers, two of which have gone to overtime.
The Buckeyes were led by their backcourt duo of John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton who combined for 59 points. Mobley accounted for 26 while making five of 11 three-point shots. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson led the way for Minnesota with 26 points and eight rebounds.
THE STAT: Rebounding killed the Gophers again last night. In this recent stretch of losses, Minnesota has allowed offensive rebounds on 37% or more of opponent misses in three of those four losses. Defensive rebounding numbers have taken a real hit since Robert Vaihola was lost for the season due to injury.
TURNING POINT: Reynolds had a strong drive to the rim with under five seconds remaining and missed the layup in traffic that would have won the game for the Gophers. The senior guard finished with 12 points, five assists and was 6/7 from the free throw line. But the missed layup was the turning point. Ohio State dominated the final five minutes.
HOT (Minnesota): Crocker-Johnson has led the Gophers in scoring for three straight games. He has scored 26, 22 and 20 in those games with eight rebounds in each one as well.
HOT (Ohio State): Mobley Jr was unstoppable last night and has had back-to-back huge games. The sophomore scored 28 in OSU’s recent win over UCLA and his 26 tonight was equally impressive. Combined in those two games, Mobley is 11/23 from three.
NOT: The rest of Ohio State was just 2/13 from three. Even with Mobley’s numbers, the Buckeys shot just 29% from three.
BAD MOVE: Perhaps it is just Big Ten opponents figuring out how to defend the Gophers better, but the ball-movement, backcuts and easy baskets with assists are dwindling. Not disappearing, but dwindling.
NOTABLE: A catch-all category that can include milestones, stats that don’t fit elsewhere, other aspects of the game that should be included.
UP NEXT: On Saturday, the Gophers host Nebraska. Undefeated and #7 Nebraska. The game tips off at 11:00 AM on BTN.
