Minnesota picked up its first conference win of the season, beating Ohio State 68-59 at home to open the first week of Big Ten play 1-1 after Wednesday's loss to Michigan State.In Wednesday's game, the Gophers were outrebounded 49-27, a trend Tubby Smith sought to correct against Ohio State. The Buckeyes were dominant on the offensive glass in the early going, but Minnesota went on to win the battle of the boards 42-30.
Minnesota was unable to crack the zone defense employed by Buckeye's coach Thad Matta for much of the first half, especially without offensive catalyst Al Nolen who was whistled for two early fouls. Eventually the perimeter shots began to fall for the Gophers, who hit 6 shots from outside in the first half. Nevertheless, OSU showed a commitment to the zone, which led to the rebounding discrepancy.
Late in the first half Tubby Smith went to the zone as well, perplexing the Buckeyes who were playing without junior guard/forward David Lighty, who was sidelined because of a foot injury. The coupling of the affective zone defense, which held OSU to just 24% shooting in the first half, and an offense coming out of hibernation sparked the Gophers on a 19-2 run to close out the half.
The Gophers, who led by ten at halftime, opened the second half in the zone defense that was so successful in the first. But OSU appeared ready for it, responding with three 3 pointers in the opening 2 minutes. Two of which came from guard Jon Diebler who finished with 15 points.
Diebler and forward Evan Turner, who led all scorers with 21 points, are expected to shoulder much of the load in Lighty's absence. Lighty averaged 9.7 points in seven games for the Buckeyes this season.
With 16 minutes to go in the second half, Minnesota began to push the tempo through aggressive defense which created opportunities for the Gophers to run in transition. This sparked an 11-0 run capped by Blake Hoffarber who connected on a 3 pointer from the corner, making the score 47-33.
But Ohio State still had some fight left in them. With 2:10 to play, Devoe Joseph fell to the floor while trying to bring the ball up against the Buckeyes' press. The ball was picked up by OSU guard PJ Hill, a Minneapolis native, whose lay up cut the Gophers' lead to 60-52.
On the following possession, Al Nolen answered with a nifty bank shot over a pair of Buckeye defenders and the Gophers would ultimately hold on to win.
Junior Lawrence Westbrook led Minnesota with 15 points. Damian Johnson also filled his box score, as Gopher fans have become accustomed to, with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.
Defeating No. 23 Ohio State gives the Gophers, who came into Wednesday's loss to MSU ranked No. 21, a chance at remaining one of the top 25 teams in the nation.
Minnesota Gophers Blog Writer: Michael Rietmulder