John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton combined for 49 points as Ohio State held off an upset bid from visiting Minnesota for an 82-74 overtime win on Tuesday night in Columbus.
Mobley scored 26 and Thornton added 23, including six in overtime. Thornton’s baseline jumper at the 1:08 mark made it 78-73, and he also converted two free throws with 25 seconds left in overtime, when Ohio State had a 15-7 advantage. The Buckeyes (13-5, 5-3 Big Ten Conference) won for the fifth time in seven games.
The Buckeyes’ Devin Royal tallied 16 points and Christoph Tilly hit for 11, including the 1,000th point of his career. Ohio State canned 31 of 65 shots from the field (47.7%) and earned a 42-31 rebounding advantage while outscoring the Golden Gophers 46-26 in the paint.
Minnesota forced overtime when Jaylen Crocker-Johnson converted a layup while being fouled with 40 seconds left but missed the free throw to leave the score tied 67-67. Both teams missed chances to win on their final possession of regulation.
Crocker-Johnson pumped in 20 of his 26 points after halftime for the Gophers (10-9, 3-5), who dropped their fourth straight game – two in overtime. Cade Tyson scored 15 before fouling out with 3:04 remaining in overtime. Isaac Asuma and Langston Reynolds each chipped in 12 points.
Hoping for a quick start to quiet the home crowd down, Minnesota instead stumbled out of the gate. Ohio State scored the game’s first 10 points, forcing Gophers coach Niko Medved to call a timeout before his team scored.
Minnesota’s first points came at the 15:23 mark via two free throws by Tyson. Its first field goal didn’t occur until Tyson bombed a 3-pointer with 13:25 on the clock. But the Gophers were able to work their way into contention as they forced six first-half turnovers.
Minnesota also marched to the foul line for 11 shots and converted 10, even taking the lead in the first half with the help of a 16-2 run. However, the Buckeyes found a way to come back, holding the visitors without a point for the final 4:37 and taking a 31-28 edge to halftime.
–Field Level Media
