A questionable foul call on a late block attempt proved to be the difference in the Golden Gophers' victory over the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team dropped its third straight game with a 70-67 loss to Minnesota at Value City Arena on Thursday night.
The Buckeyes shot just 38 percent from the field but tied the game late when freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh knocked down a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining.
Freshman Bruce Thornton was called for a foul on the next possession, though it appeared that he got all ball on his block attempt, sending the Golden Gophers to the line for the go-ahead free throws with 1.7 left.
Sensabaugh led the five Ohio State players in double figures with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Dawson Garcia scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the second half for Minnesota.
With the loss, the Buckeyes fall to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten play. They’ll be back in action on Sunday at Rutgers, with tipoff set for 2:15 p.m. on BTN.
First Half:
- Junior guard Eugene Brown got the start in place of junior forward Zed Key, who missed Sunday’s loss at Maryland with a shoulder injury but checked into tonight’s game at the 17:05 mark of the first half.
- The Buckeyes started the game just 2-of-10 from the field as the Golden Gophers opened up an 11-6 lead at the under-16 timeout. That stretched to 31-23 behind 10 straight points from Garcia.
- Ohio State outscored Minnesota, 12-6, over the final 6:07 of the first half, with fifth-year senior Sean McNeil’s three-pointer and three free throws on back-to-back possessions tying the game at 35-all.
- Guard Ta’lon Cooper knocked down a jumper with 39 seconds on the clock to give the Golden Gophers a two-point lead heading into the break.
- The Buckeyes shot just 35 percent (12-of-34) from the field in the first half, but had seven offensive rebounds leading to nine second-chance points to help cut into the lead in the closing minutes.
Second Half:
- Garcia continued to lead the way for Minnesota, scoring seven of the Golden Gophers’ first nine points out of the break as they maintained a two-point lead at the under-16 timeout.
- Sensabaugh, who did not start the second half, checked in at the 13:28 mark and almost immediately gave Ohio State its first lead since it was 2-0 with an and-one layup, putting the Buckeyes up, 51-50.
- The lead was short-lived as Minnesota went on a quick 7-0 run, highlighted by Garcia’s putback of his own shot, which forced Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann to call a timeout with 10:38 left.
- Down 11 with just over five minutes remaining, Sensabaugh’s and-one cut the deficit to eight. The Buckeyes then switched to a full-court press, which led to a turnover, but they were unable to capitalize.
- Baskets by fifth-year senior forward Justice Sueing and McNeil trimmed the lead to four, while Minnesota split a pair of free throws following a blocking foul at the other end to push it back to five.
- Sensabaugh’s three-pointer with 31 seconds left cut it to two, while the Golden Gophers missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing him to draw a foul and tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
- Freshman Bruce Thornton appeared to have a clean block on a layup but was a called for a foul with 1.7 left. Cooper missed the first but made the second free throw for the win.
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