Ohio State had a great night at the free-throw line at Minnesota and needed every one of them in a one-point double-overtime victory.
Ohio State and Minnesota proved over and over and over Monday night in Minneapolis the value of free-throw shooting.
The Buckeyes – who have missed critical free throws this season – made far more than they missed: 29 of 33. The Golden Gophers – one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation – missed a lot more than they made: 12 of 27.
The Minster Bank proudly sponsors your favorite sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.
That didn’t equate, as you might expect, to an easy victory for the Buckeyes. But for only the second time in their past 23 Big Ten road games the Buckeyes won.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Ques Glover and John Mobley Jr. combined to go 6-for-6 from the line in the final 21 seconds and the Buckeyes held on for an 89-88 double-overtime victory at Williams Arena against a late flurry of 3-pointers.
“I’ve been a big believer in our free throws all season,” Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler said during his postgame radio interview. “We’ve missed some critical ones at times, but our guys have stayed with it. We’ve got a confident group.”
The Buckeyes (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten) scored the first eight points of the second overtime. Bruce Thornton made a 3-pointer, Aaron Bradshaw made a difficult shot in the lane and added a free throw, and Glover made a driving layup with 3:08 left.
But the Gophers (8-7, 0-4) weren’t finished. Mobley made two free throws with 21 seconds left for an 85-79 lead. Lu’cye Patterson made a 3-pointer five seconds later to cut the lead in half.
Glover was fouled with 10 seconds left and made two at the line for an 87-82 lead. But that wasn’t enough. Mike Mitchell Jr. hit another three with four seconds left: 87-85.
Glover was fouled before the ball could be inbounded. No problem. Two more free throws: 89-85. And it’s a good thing he made both. Because Patterson made a running 3-pointer from about 30 feet. But with a tenth of a second left the Gophers were finally out of chances.
“Coach said we worked our butt off to be here, we came back, kept fighting, kept fighting, so just got out there and play our game,” Royal said of the huddle before the second overtime. “And that’s what we did.”
Devin Royal again led the Buckeyes with 19 points and 9 of 11 shooting from the free throw line. (Press Pros File Photos)
Ohio State entered the game shooting 69.6%, which ranked them 235th in the nation out of 355 Division I teams. Minnesota entered shooting 63.6%, bad enough to be 340th.
The Buckeyes made 9 of 12 in the second half and Minnesota made 6 of 14. The Gophers missed 3 of 4 in the final 2:25 of regulation. Ironically, it was an Ohio State miss at the line that kept the Gophers in the game.
Mobley found Devin Royal open near the basket for a dunk with five seconds left to tie the score at 64. Royal was fouled. But the man who scored a team-high 19 points and made 9 of 11 free throws, missed this time. Glover got the rebound but missed a short jumper from the baseline. The next rebound came to Evan Mahaffey, but his rushed shot from six feet missed.
Royal didn’t let the missed free throw bother him.
“It’s play by play,” he said. “I missed that free throw and we definitely could have won with that free throw, but it’s over with at that point. And we just got to keep going and win the game.”
Ohio State never led in overtime and Minnesota led by as many as four twice. Free throws, of course, cost the Gophers.
Logan Services, in Dayton, Cincinnati, an Columbus, is a proud sponsor of area sports on Press Pros.
Up three with nine seconds left, the Gophers decided to foul instead of let the Buckeyes shoot a 3-pointer. Mobley was fouled with seven seconds left and cut Minnesota’s lead to 73-71 when he went 1 for 2 at the line with seven seconds left.
The Buckeyes quickly fouled Mitchell with seven seconds left. Mitchell, predictably, missed both to keep the lead at two. Mobley rebounded the second miss and started to hurry up the floor. But Minnesota’s Kadyn Betts was still thinking foul and grabbed Mobley with four seconds left.
Mobley made both free throws to tie the score, and Minnesota’s Isaac Asuma missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to the second overtime.
The Buckeyes, who have won four out of five, were coming off a physically played loss at home against Michigan State. Minnesota tried to push the Buckeyes around as well and fouled them 28 times. Ohio State committed 25 fouls.
“We were tough and together,” Diebler said. “This was a classic grind it out, ugly at times, Big Ten game – physical game – and we needed to show that we could overcome in one of these. And we overcame a poor shooting night from three and a few too many turnovers. But we had some great execution at times, and made just enough plays.”
Royal and backcourt scoring carried the Buckeyes. Thornton scored 18, Mobley 12, Parrish 11 and Glover 13 off the bench. The free-throw shooting made up for poor 3-point shooting. The Buckeyes, second in the Big Ten from long range, made only 6 of 22.
Minnesota, one of the worst 3-point teams in the league, almost won because of its long-range accuracy. The Gophers made 12 of 29. Asuma, a freshman guard, made 3 of 4 and scored a career-high 18.
The Gophers also got big nights from Parker Fox with 21 points, Patterson with 20 and Mitchell with 18. They needed it because the Buckeyes’ defensive attention and foul trouble held leading scorer Dawson Garcia to five points. Garcia scored over 30 last year at Ohio State.
“We wanted him to see crowds, and we executed our post traps on him pretty good,” Diebler said. “It was hard for him to get in a rhythm.”
Wilson Health proudly sponsors your favorite area sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.