By Danielle Daniels

2 22 2024

Ohio State at Minnesota
Date: February 22, 2024
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Venue: Williams Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.
Watch: BTN
Listen: Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield
Live Stats: Sidearm
Game Notes: Ohio State | Minnesota
Rosters: Ohio State | Minnesota
Season Stats: Ohio State | Minnesota

VIDEO: Jake Diebler and Zed Key Pregame Press Conference

TICKETS: Single-game, group and mini plans are still available for the remaining men’s basketball games. Visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com or call the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the Schottenstein Center at 1-800-GOBUCKS.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State starts a five-day road trip on Thursday night when the Buckeyes head to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. Tip-off 8 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on BTN. Lisa Byington and Jess Settles will call the action.

• The Buckeyes and Golden Gophers are meeting for the 158th time with the Buckeyes officially leading the all-time series 91-61.
• Ohio State has won four of the last five meetings with Minnesota. That includes an 84-74 win earlier this year on Dec. 3 in Columbus. Former Golden Gopher Jamison Battle thrived in his first meeting against his old team, scoring a season-high 25 points on 4-of-6 from long range and 7-of-7 from the line. Bruce Thornton also had 26 points, five assists and three steals. Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 36 points and 10 rebounds.
• This will be Jamison Battle’s return to Minnesota, but this time, he’ll be walking into the visitors locker room at Williams Arena for the first time. The Robbinsdale, Minn., native played in 57 games over the last two seasons at Minnesota and led the team in scoring each season.
• The Buckeyes are coming off their most thrilling win of the season, beating No. 2 Purdue 73-69 last Sunday. Bruce Thornton took control of the game, matching Zach Edey with a game-high 22 points. He was also 5-of-5 from the line and grabbed four rebounds. Jamison Battle scored all 19 of his points in the second half, connecting on 3-of-5 from long range. Zed Key had nine points and a career-high five steals.
• Key played perhaps the best defense of his career on Sunday as his five steals were the most by any Buckeye big man in the last 30 years. His previous career-high for steals was two.
• Sticking with the big men, Felix Okpara has matched Greg Oden (it sounds good anytime you can say that) as he has now blocked a shot in 32 consecutive games. Over the last 30 years, only Ken Johnson, the Big Ten’s leading career shot blocker, has had a longer streak with 40.
• One more big man note: freshman Austin Parks scored a lay-up with 3:07 left in the first half against Purdue on Sunday. That lay-up not only gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the game, but it was also Parks’ first career field goal on his first career attempt. He has now played in eight games this season and had only a free throw to his credit prior to Sunday.
• Jake Diebler collected his first coaching victory on Sunday vs. No. 2 Purdue. Diebler was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season on Feb. 14.
• The Buckeyes are looking for their first win in a true road game since beating Northwestern 73-57 on Jan. 1, 2023.
• Minnesota enters the game Thursday at 16-9 overall and 7-7 in the conference. The Golden Gophers ripped-off seven consecutive wins after losing to the Buckeyes on Dec. 3. Dawson Garcia leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 17.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Cam Christie, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week earlier this month, is second on the team in scoring at 11.3 ppg.

#GoBucks

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS