National Basketball Association
Minnesota 78, Ohio St. 68
When: 7:30 PM ET, Sunday, January 8, 2017
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
# Terry Oglesby, # Kelly Pfeifer, # Robert Riley
Attendance:
11267
By The Sports Xchange
Akeem Springs came off the bench to drill five 3-pointers and score 18 points, pushing him over 1,000 points for his career, on Sunday night as Minnesota recorded a 78-68 Big Ten Conference win over Ohio State at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Springs' last 3 swished with three seconds on the shot clock and two minutes left in the game, upping the Golden Gophers' lead to 69-60. Freshman Amir Coffey added a team-high 19 points, while Nate Mason scored 12 points and center Reggie Lynch contributed 10 before fouling out.
Minnesota (15-2, 3-1) won its third straight game since opening conference play with an overtime loss to Michigan State. With a handful of teams at the bottom of the rankings likely to fall out after losing in the last week, the Golden Gophers could enter the Top 25 a season removed from a last-place finish in the Big Ten.
Jae'Sean Tate tallied a game-high 20 points for the Buckeyes (10-6, 0-3) before fouling out, while Trevor Thompson delivered a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double. JaQuan Lyle contributed 12 points and six assists.
Minnesota roared out to a 26-8 lead at the 9:32 mark of the first half as Springs stuck a 3-pointer. Another 3 by Mason with 5:28 left in the half restored a 17-point advantage for the Golden Gophers at 31-14.
But Ohio State worked its way back into contention by halftime, going on a 13-2 run and drawing within 33-27 as Kam Williams sank a 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining. Minnesota managed to up its lead to 38-27 at the half as Mason drew a foul and converted a pair of free throws with three seconds left.
Top Game Performances
| Ohio St. |
|
Minnesota |
|
Jae'Sean Tate 20 |
Scoring |
Amir Coffey 19 |
|
JaQuan Lyle 6 |
Assists |
Amir Coffey 5 |
|
Trevor Thompson 15 |
Rebounds |
Jordan Murphy 11 |
|
Trevor Thompson 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Nate Mason 7 |
|
JaQuan Lyle 2 |
Steals |
Nate Mason 3 |
|
Marc Loving 1 |
Blocks |
Bakary Konate 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Ohio St.
|
68 |
40.6 |
5-14 |
11-21 |
17 |
39 |
4 |
5 |
14 |
| Minnesota
|
78 |
41.0 |
9-24 |
19-27 |
20 |
33 |
12 |
7 |
12 |
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