COLUMBUS — Ohio State fell asleep at the end of its victory over Illinois on Tuesday, allowing the Illini to erase a sizeable deficit and turn a rout into a close game.
Needless to say, the Buckeyes were wide awake at the start of their next one.
Scoring the game’s first 11 points and 19 of the opening 22, OSU cruised past Tubby Smith and Minnesota 76-60 Saturday night in front of 19,049 fans at Value City Arena.
Ohio State led 19-3 through the first 10 minutes and by double digits at intermission, never trailing, en route to its 18th straight conference win at home.       
“That was huge for us,” senior guard Jamar Butler, who led all scorers with 27 points, said of the Buckeyes’ big opening run. “It got us some energy, and we just kept going.”
The win was the second straight for Ohio State (14-6, 5-2 Big Ten) after three consecutive road losses, and kept the Buckeyes two games behind first-place Indiana in the conference standings.
“I thought we were fortunate to get off to a great start,” OSU coach Thad Matta said. “Our energy was good. I thought we did a better job of finishing tonight.”
Minnesota lost for the third straight time to fall to 12-6 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten.
With pressure defense providing the fuel, Ohio State started fast and led 11-0, getting eight points from freshman guard Evan Turner, including two 3-pointers.
Turner and Butler did most of the damage for the Buckeyes in the opening half and in the game, combining for 24 points before intermission and 44 for the game. The duo accounted for seven of OSU’s eight 3-pointers.
Senior forward Dan Coleman led the Gophers with 14 points, nine in the second half.
The only thing Butler didn’t do well is what he does best — shoot free throws. He entered the game as the nation’s most accurate foul shooter at 96 percent (46-of-48), but missed two of his seven attempts.
The Buckeyes forced nine first-half turnovers (six steals), blocked five shots and held the Gophers to 30-percent shooting from the field. Minnesota, which connected on just one of its first 15 field-goal attempts, shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) for the game, while Ohio State connected on 50 percent of its attempts (26-of-52).
“That’s the kind of defense we want to play,” Butler said. “We just came out and wanted to make it tough on them to score. Every shot, get someone in their face.”
Butler opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer, but the Gophers wouldn’t go away, fighting back to within three points with 13:14 to play.
An alley-oop dunk by Matt Terwilliger on a pass in transition from Butler touched off a flurry of possessions that finally left the game firmly in OSU’s hands.
Terwilliger’s dunk put the Buckeyes in front 48-42 with 10:23 remaining and was followed by a missed 3-pointer from Jon Diebler that appeared to hit the top of the backboard. Referees, however, allowed Terwilliger to secure the rebound while being fouled.
An incensed Smith came onto the floor to argue, receiving a technical and watching as the Buckeyes capped an 8-0 run with consecutive steals and dunks to go up 54-42 and bring the crowd to a deafening roar.
“It wasn’t a pretty game for us but I thought our kids fought hard,” said Smith, in his first year as the Gophers coach. “The bottom just kind of fell out.
“Ohio State is a sound ballclub and a very impressive team.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.

Ohio State 76, Minnesota 60

MINNESOTA (12-6): Coleman 5-10 4-6 14, Tollackson 3-9 1-2 7, McKenzie 4-10 0-0 10, Westbrook 3-8 0-2 9, Abu-Shamala 0-0 0-0 0, Nolen 0-2 0-0 0, Payton 0-1 0-0 0, Busch 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 1-2 2-2 4, Hoffarber 3-9 1-2 8, Johnson 4-9 0-0 8. Totals 23-63 8-14 60.
OHIO ST. (14-6): Koufos 3-8 9-10 15, Hunter 3-5 0-0 6, Butler 9-15 5-7 27, Turner 7-13 0-0 17, Lighty 1-5 2-4 5, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Diebler 1-3 0-0 2, Terwilliger 2-3 0-1 4. Totals 26-52 16-22 76.
Halftime—Ohio State 35-25. 3-Point Goals—Minnesota 6-22 (Westbrook 3-5, McKenzie 2-6, Hoffarber 1-7, Nolen 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Busch 0-1, Payton 0-1), Ohio St. 8-24 (Butler 4-9, Turner 3-6, Lighty 1-3, Terwilliger 0-1, Diebler 0-2, Koufos 0-3). Fouled Out—Johnson. Rebounds—Minnesota 34 (Westbrook 7), Ohio St. 38 (Hunter, Koufos, Turner 8). Assists—Minnesota 15 (Johnson 5), Ohio St. 17 (Butler 9). Total Fouls—Minnesota 19, Ohio St. 11. Technical—Butler. A—19,049.

 

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