After getting the proverbial coaching change boost in a win over Purdue at home last weekend, the Ohio State basketball team came back down to Earth on Thursday night with an 88-79 loss at Minnesota to run its ridiculously notorious road losing streak to seventeen straight games. That, by the way, is a school record.
The Buckeyes started out in a hole from the get go because of a hot shooting start by Minnesota. The Gophers went up by as many as eleven points about halfway through the first half before OSU started to get going a little bit, eventually tying the game and then falling back down by eight before heading to the locker room.
The second half didn’t get much closer with the Gophers controlling the second half, never falling behind and leading by as much as 17 points. OSU extended the game by fouling and notching a little closer heading down the stretch but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes again in scoring with 25 points on 10-of-14 from the floor, including a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Former Gopher Jamison Battle scored 21 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. chipped in 13 points.
Final from Minneapolis.
OSU: 79
Minnesota: 88 pic.twitter.com/b8qjKquzLX— Ohio State Hoops 🌰 (@OhioStateHoops) February 23, 2024
The loss drops Ohio State’s overall record to 15-12, while its conference record falls to 5-11. OSU will try again to stop the away losing streak when it travels to East Lansing on Sunday to take on Michigan State.
