By Danielle Daniels

1 6 2025

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – It wasn’t, until it was. Ohio State trailed by seven with under six minutes to play in the second half and battled back to send the game to overtime and eventually pulled out an 89-88 double-overtime road victory at Minnesota on Monday night.

This was the first road win of the year as the Buckeyes improve to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten play.

Devin Royal led five Buckeyes in double figures with 19 points and seven rebounds. He was 9-of-11 from the free throw line and had a timely dunk to pull the Buckeyes even at the end of regulation.

Bruce Thornton made 8-of-9 clutch free throws down the stretch and finished with 18 points. He played a career-high 47:07 in the game. Ques Glover also came up big in the second overtime and he finished with 13 points and three rebounds.

John Mobley Jr. made a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining in the first overtime to even the score again and send the game to a second extra session. He had 12 points, four assists and zero turnovers on the night.

Micah Parrish was the fifth Buckeye in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. Aaron Bradshaw finished with seven points and a key three-point play at the start of the second overtime.

The Buckeyes shot 42.9 percent for the game but were a solid 29-of-33 from the free throw. Conversely, Minnesota was just 12-of-27 from the free throw line which allowed the Buckeyes to get back in the game.

There were a total of 10 ties and 24 lead changes in the game.

No instructional videos will be made of the first half. Both teams shot under 40 percent and a number of touchy fouls were called on both ends that didn’t help the game’s flow. The Gophers scored the final five points and took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Minnesota hit back-to-back three pointers and led 59-52 with just over five minutes to play. The Buckeyes clawed back and tied the game on a Parrish lay-in with 2:04 to go. Minnesota had a steal and a dunk on the break to take a two-point lead and Royal would tie the game on a dunk of his own with five seconds left off a nice pass from Mobley Jr. He was also fouled on the play but missed the free throw. Glover got the rebound and he had a shot from the baseline and Even Mahaffey had a shot in the lane in the final seconds, but both shots bounced off the rim.

In the first overtime, Minnesota raced out to a four-point lead and held that advantage with less than a minute to go. Parrish hit a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left and after Minnesota split a pair to hold a 73-70 lead with 10 seconds to play, Mobley Jr. was fouled before he could attempt a game-tying three. But he too split a pair, leaving the Buckeyes down 73-71. Minnesota then missed both free throws on the other end and Mobley Jr. was again foul with four seconds to play. This time, he hit both free throws and the game went to another overtime.

In the second OT, Thornton hit a three-pointer on the first possession and then Bradshaw had an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Buckeyes in front 79-73. Glover followed with a nice lay-in and the Buckeyes had their biggest lead of the night at 81-73.

Minnesota would hit three three-pointers in the final 16 seconds, but the Buckeyes made all eight of their free throws in the second overtime to hold on for the win.

Up Next

The Buckeyes will be back at home on Thursday night when they host No. 15 Oregon at 6 p.m. on BTN. This will be the first meeting between the schools as Big Ten members and the first meeting overall since 1992.

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS