|
 Instead, it was his teammate, forward Marc Loving, who knocked
down the biggest shot of the game.
Loving hit a go-ahead jumper with five seconds to play in overtime,
and Buckeyes guard Shannon Scott made a big defensive play at the
other end as No. 22 Ohio State topped Minnesota 74-72 Tuesday in Big
Ten action at Williams Arena.
"This is a big win for us," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I
loved the fashion that we won it, but it took a couple years off my
life. I like the plays we made."
Russell scored a game-high 27 points, 25 of which came in the first
half. He added two points at the free-throw line in overtime to put
Ohio State up by three. Loving finished with 13 points.
Scott added nine points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for Ohio
State (14-3, 2-1 Big Ten).
Minnesota (11-5, 0-3) rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second
half to force overtime. After Gophers freshman guard Nate Mason made
one of two free throws in the final minute, Ohio State had the ball
with a chance to take the last shot. However, center Amir Williams'
shot was no good, and Gophers forward Joey King's half-court heave
sailed well over the basket to send the game to overtime.
Russell's two free throws put Ohio State up 72-69 with 1:13
remaining in overtime. Both teams traded turnovers before Mason
converted a three-point play to tie the score at 72 with 24 seconds
to play. At that point, Minnesota felt confident it had a chance to
steal one from the Buckeyes.
"I thought we were going to win," Gophers senior guard DeAndre
Mathieu said. "I knew we were ready to get a stop on the other end.
Just go down and score a basket. ... Loving made a nice shot, and
then Scott made a nice play."
After Mason's three-point play, the Buckeyes got the ball to Loving,
whose jumper took the air out of Williams Arena. Minnesota had a
chance to score the other way but opted not to call a timeout. The
Gophers never got off a shot before the buzzer.
"I was just focused on getting the shot up because I knew I had a
lot of faith in myself," Loving said. "I knew I was going to make
it. We ran that play three times. It was just a matter of time. The
third time's the charm."
Gophers center Mo Walker had a team-high 18 points and added nine
rebounds. Mathieu chipped in 17 points, three assists and three
steals. After a scoreless first half, senior guard Andre Hollins
wound up with 12 points. Hollins shot 3-for-9 from 3-point range,
3-for-13 from the floor overall.
[to top of second column] |
Minnesota didn't have an answer for Russell in the first half as he
helped key a 15-2 Buckeyes run. Russell, who came into Tuesday's
game averaging 17.7 points per game, had 11 early points as Ohio
State jumped out to a 17-9 lead. He finished the half 10-of-12 from
the floor, including a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
After the big first half by Russell, Mason was tasked with guarding
the Buckeyes phenom, and he kept Russell scoreless in the second
half.
"We adjusted. We trapped him. We denied him," Gophers coach Richard
Pitino said of Russell. "We did a lot of things like that, so I
thought that was really good."
Minnesota answered Ohio State's early first-half run with one of its
own. Guard Carlos Morris hit a 3-pointer to cap a quick 5-0 run as
the Gophers clawed back.
Later in the first half, Minnesota center Elliott Eliason threw down
a two-handed dunk that tied the game at 21 and brought the Williams
Arena crowd to its feet.
Behind Russell, Ohio State went on an 11-2 run to close out the half
with a 41-29 lead.
NOTES: Ohio State won despite shooting just 6-for-12 from the foul
line. Minnesota hit 11 of 15 free throws. ... Minnesota's players
wore alternate black jerseys for Tuesday's game, and Gophers fans
were encouraged to wear black as part of a "blackout." ... Gophers
senior G Andre Hollins recently dealt with turf toe, but Minnesota
coach Richard Pitino said Monday that Hollins' toe was no longer an
issue. Hollins topped 1,500 points for his career in the second half
Tuesday.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
