Ohio State men's basketball blows out Minnesota, 71-45
Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 23:02
After a tightly fought and officiated first half, the Ohio State men's basketball cruised to a 71-45 victory against Minnesota Wednesday night at the Schottenstein Center behind junior forward Deshaun Thomas’ 19-point performance.
The Gophers stubbornly hung around with 13:07 left to play until the Buckeyes surged ahead thanks to a 15-0 run over a span of six minutes in the second half.
OSU's defense, though, might have been the difference and held Minnesota to 29.2 percent shooting from the floor.
While the Buckeyes' offense, sputtered at times, it finished the day shooting 40 percent.
In particular, OSU closed out the first half on an 8-2 run in the final minutes, including a 3-pointer by Craft at the buzzer to take a six point lead into halftime.
The Buckeyes never trailed after that.
OSU is set to next play Michigan State Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center.
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