Having survived a scare from Purdue, the Buckeyes couldn’t enjoy the same fate against the Spartans. MSU came in with the ultimate game plan against Jared Sullinger and shut down the Buckeyes star in route to a 10 point victory and holding them to 26% shooting from the floor. The Bucks have to regroupe and in a hurry as they travel to Minnesota and take on a sub .500 team in the conference(5-7) that always give the Buckeyes fits in “The Barn”.
| School: | University of Minnesota |
| Location: | Minneapolis and St.Paul,Minnesota |
| Founded: | 1851 – The original Minneapolis campus overlooked the Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River, but it was later moved about a mile downstream to its current location. |
| Student Population: | 52,557 – 4th largest in the U.S. |
| School Type: | Public Flagship University Land-Grant Sea-Grant Space-Grant |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Stadium: | Williams Arena – “The Barn” One of a few raised floors in the country |
| Seating: | 14,625 |
| Built: | 1927 – Remodeled in 1992 for $42 million |
| Head Coach: | Tubby Smith –High Point College ‘73 |
| Experience & Accomplishments | 20 Year – 1 National title at UK, 5 time Conference COY, three time National COY and is 467-198 headed into this season and has 17 consecutive 20 win seasons |
SERIES INFORMATION VS MINNESOTA
Series …Ohio State leads 78-55
Games at OhioState…Ohio State leads 48-18
Games at Minnesota..Minnesota leads 37-29
Neutral Games….Ohio State leads 1-0
Last Ohio State Win ..82-69 (2/6/11,Minneapolis)
Last Minnesota Win ..73-62 (1/9/10,Minneapolis)
Longest Ohio State win streak …11 (1958-64)
Longest OSU home win streak …12 (1952-66)
Longest OSU away win streak ..5 (1958-63)
Longest Minnesota win streak …6 (1975-78)
Longest Minnesota home win streak …6 (1951-57)
Longest Minnesota away win streak …3 (1904-17)
Current Series Streak …OhioStateW-4
Ranked OSU teams vs.Minnesota…24-3
OSU vs. ranked Minnesota teams …13-12
OSU record when both teams are ranked …3-1
The Gophers are 17-8 overall and 5-7 in the B1G and have always given the Buckeyes fits at home. You need not look at the all time series to realize the Gophers have always played well in “The Barn” and have had their fair share of luck against good Buckeye teams at home. The Gophers have played the win one, lose one streak in their last six games and need a big win against the Bucks to have any hope of returning to the NCAA’s this year. Tubby Smith is a players coach and always has his team and the fans fired up for the Buckeyes.
|
|
Player |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
PPG |
FG% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
| #33 | Rodney Williams |
25 |
24 |
30.7 |
10.7 |
57.0 |
5.2 |
1.9 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
| #20 | Austin Hollins |
25 |
23 |
26.2 |
8.5 |
43.4 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
0.4 |
| #00 | Julian Welch |
25 |
16 |
24.8 |
10.1 |
47.5 |
2.4 |
2.7 |
1.0 |
0.3 |
| #50 | Ralph Sampson III |
22 |
20 |
23.5 |
8.2 |
51.7 |
4.8 |
2.0 |
0.4 |
1.2 |
| #13 | Maverick Ahanmisi |
25 |
6 |
16.8 |
3.9 |
38.5 |
1.7 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
|
|
Player |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
PPG |
FG% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
| #44 | William Buford |
25 |
25 |
33.1 |
15.0 |
42.4 |
4.7 |
3.0 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
| #4 | Aaron Craft |
25 |
25 |
30.0 |
8.4 |
49.6 |
3.0 |
4.6 |
2.2 |
0.1 |
| #1 | Deshaun Thomas |
25 |
25 |
28.7 |
14.3 |
52.2 |
4.4 |
0.9 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
| #0 | Jared Sullinger |
23 |
22 |
29.1 |
17.4 |
56.2 |
9.3 |
0.9 |
1.5 |
0.8 |
| #32 | Lenzelle Smith Jr. |
25 |
25 |
23.4 |
6.1 |
48.6 |
4.8 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
The Gophers RPI headed into their match-up with the Buckeyes is at 59 and they are playing in the best conference in the land and if you listen to Tom Izzo, they are playing the best team in the conference. Offensively they score 68.9 a game for 7th in the B1G and are one of the better teams in assists with 15.7 a game for third in conference. Rebounding is an achilles heal for the Gophers as they are 7th with 34.4 a game and shoot at a 47.3 clip landing them 3rd.
On the other side, and in spite one of the worst shooting games ever for the Buckeyes, they are still high on the list in the B1G. The Bucks are second in every major category in the conference averaging 75.8 points a game, 36.7 rebounds and shooting at a 48.2 percent rate. They come in 4th in assists with 15.4 a game.
Defensively is where this game will be won. The Bucks still present several match-up issues that if the Gophers do not shoot well, they will be in for a long night. The Buckeyes defense is limiting teams to 56.7 points a game where the Gophers are giving up 63.5. On the boards the Bucks are second best in the conference only giving up 29.6 and the Gophers are seventh at 31.5. The Buckeyes are one of the best in the country at assists gievn up and only allow 9 a game where the Gophers fasll in 65th at 11.2 assists given up a game. The teams are second and third respectively in the conference at FG percentage allowed. The Bucks are at 39.7 and the Gophers allow a 41.2 percent scoring rate.
If you follow @BuckeyeNuthouse on twitter then youve been aware of the free throw shooting contest among the student bodies within the B1G. The Barnyard is in the lead and the Nuthouse is somewhere in the pack. If they win then they win $5,000 for @KomenColumbus and the competition can be seen here. #B1GHHC If the numbers are any indication, the Barnyard is the toughest place to make free throws and they are very proud of it. Look for the Buckeyes to take the stink out of the Pig Stye in the Barnyard this time.
The Bottom line for the Buckeyes here is that they cannot get caught looking ahead at Ann Arbor. The Gophers want to make it to the big dance and the best way to do that is to beat the best team in the conference at home. You have to believe that the Gophers will try to mimick what the Spartans did and put the clamps down on the inside game. The Buckeyes have to respond and play through the shooting slump theyre in. I think everyone has realized that this team is in dire need of a leader on the perimiter in the shooting department and if it doesnt mature right away, they could suffer back to back losses.
Somewhere in the next two weeks and during the B1G tournament this Buckeye team has to mature. No time now for learning experiences after a loss at home and back to back road games in hostile environments. Will Buford has to continue to play a vital role in their development. The keys to maturing quickly will depend on the likes of Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson. Playing seven players over the next two games will cause this team to take a couple steps backwards.
The Buckeyes will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Barn at 9:00 PM EST on February 14th. You’ll be able to see the game on ESPN.
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Alan Draper
Alan Draper
