Gophers out-rebounded 48-22 in 75-64 loss to No. 16 Ohio State

By: Tony Liebert |
Jan. 27, 2021: Ohio State took advantage of the Gophers lack of frontcourt depth out-rebounding them 48-22, resulting in a 75-64 Minnesota loss.

–> Follow @Tony Liebert on Twitter

Full Game Recap:

  • First Half: Jamison Battle and E.J. Stephens both returned to the starting lineup Thursday, but Eric Curry remained sidelined due to his ankle injury. Charlies Daniels picked up right where he left off for the Gophers. After recording 6 rebounds and 6 assists against Rutgers, he got started early with an easy two and a beautiful assist for the Gophers first four points. Minnesota looked like it belonged with No. 16 Ohio State, trailing 11-13 heading into the under 12 media timeout. It was a back and forth battle in the first half and the Maroon & Gold was playing some of its best basketball of the season. Seven points from Luke Loewe resulted in a 19-18 lead heading into the under eight timeout. It took a while for Battle to get going after starting the game 0-6 from the field, but his first shot was a big one, giving the Gophers a 29-29 lead with 2:48 to go in the first half. The half closed with Ohio State getting some favorable calls, and Minnesota found itself trailing 32-30.

  • Second Half: Ohio State came out of the locker room aggressive jumping out a 44-35 lead about five minutes in. Its All-American big man E.J. Liddell was starting to flex his muscles down low, on Minnesota’s depleted front court. The Buckeyes continued to attack the paint scoring 12 of their first 18 points in the paint compared to only six from the Gophers. The shelacking in the paint continued, and Minnesota just had zero answers for whoever was being thrown at it. With only two turnovers in the game, it was able to keep fighting trailing 61-49 with 7:42 to go. It was much of the same story down the stretch, resulting in a 75-64 Gophers defeat.

Instant Reaction & Takeaways:

These are the type of games that the Gophers will need to win if they would like to sneak into the NCAA Tournament, so a loss is less than ideal. But at the end of the day this team has out blown any realistic fan’s expectations, and they will continue to throughout the season. Ohio State saw the Gophers low post weakness and took advantage. That was ultimately the difference in this game. There was a lot to like from this game, but the Gophers simply have less talent than the top teams in this conference and it showed tonight. There was no dramatic reason why they lost (obviously rebounding/paint defense), Ohio State was just the more talented and better team.
With that being said, a few things I did like from this game, was Luke Loewe‘s continued aggressiveness on offense for one. Battle and Stephens looked a little slow coming back combining to shoot 2-11 from the field in the first half, so it was great to see him step for the second game in a row. I also continued to be impressed with the in-season development of this roster. It might’ve not looked like it on the defensive end of the floor tonight, but Charlie Daniels and Treyton Thompson are completely different players than they were at the start of the season, which is always a great sign from a rebuilding program. They showed they could compete with the No. 16 in the country tonight, but at the end of the day Ohio State is just the better team.

What is Next?:

Minnesota will now shift its focus to a big road matchup with No. 13 Wisconsin, Sunday afternoon. The easiest way for this team to win back the fans would be a road victory over the Badgers. Wisconsin sits a top the Big Ten at 7-2 on the season and a victory Sunday could quickly become the biggest road victory in the Ben Johnson era. This team still has an outside shot at a bid to the NCAA tournament with some big games remaining on the schedule, but those expectations might be a bit unfair. As a fan myself I am rooting for this team to continue to show up everytime they hit the floor and today was not different. It was not fair to expect postseason basketball with this roster, but Ben Johnson is still presenting hope. They have already shown so much to build off of heading into next season and that is sometimes all you can ask for a first year head coach, that was given the cards that Johnson was dealt.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *