Men's Basketball
Hoffarber, Gopher Defense Too Much for Turner, Buckeyes
By Brandon CastelEvan Turner showed signs of his old self in the second half against Minnesota Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the sharp shooting of Minnesota guard Blake Hoffarber, who scored 27 points in the Gophers’ 73-62 win over Ohio State in Minneapolis.
With losses in their their first two conference road games this season, the Buckeyes (11-5, 1-3 Big Ten) were hoped to turn things around with Turner in the lineup for the first time on the road in the Big Ten. But Turner did not look quite like himself in the first half after breaking two vertebrae in his lower back last month, and the Buckeyes could not handle Tubby Smith’s full-court press on the road.
Turner scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, but the Buckeyes turned the ball over 17 times against the Big Ten’s most thievish defense and Hoffarber knocked down seven shots from behind the arc as Thad Matta’s team coughed up a 33-32 halftime lead thanks to a 20-8 start to the second half by Minnesota (12-4, 3-1).
The Buckeyes turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, including four in the first two minutes of the game, but still led 33-32 at the break thanks to 11 points from David Lighty and 10 from William Buford. The two combined to shoot 8-of-10 from the floor in the first half.
Turner had just five points in the first half on 2-of-5 shooting as he continues to shake off the rust at the offensive end. He did, however, contribute with five assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks in just his second game back from an injured back that cost him a month of the season.
The Buckeyes got out to an early 6-3 lead but fell behind 11-6 after an 8-0 run by Minnesota which was capped off by a threeball from guard Al Nolen.
Jon Diebler put an end to the run with a two-point basket just inside the arc, but finished just 1-of-8 from behind the arc in a game where his team desperately needed him to counter the hot outside shooting of Hoffarber at the other end.
Turner knocked down a three from the top of the arc at the 10:15 mark off penetration from Lighty to give OSU a 19-18 lead. Lighty gave the Buckeyes their largest lead of the first half at 24-19 when he connected on a long, high-arching three-pointer with 7:48 to play in the half.
The Gophers re-took the lead with under a minute to play in the half thanks to a 7-0 run fueled by carless turnovers from the Buckeyes in the final minutes of the first half. Lighty put an end to the run with a bucket inside, but Minnesota closed out the first half on a 13-9 run to make it a 33-32 game at the intermission.
Tubby Smith’s team got out of the gates quickly in the second half behind the hot shooting of Hoffarber. Before the game, Matta talked about his ability to shoot the basketball from outside the arc, but the Buckeyes did a good job defending him in the first half after he opened the game with a three.
Not so much in the second half.
He tied the game at 37 points apiece with a threeball from the corner at the 18 minute mark as part of a 6-0 run for the Gophers that forced Matta to call a timeout with his team down 40-37 with 16:37 to play.
His second triple of the second half made it a 9-1 run for Minnesota as the Gophers took a 43-38 lead and he followed that with his fourth three pointer of the game to give Minnesota a 14-1 run and a 10-point lead.
With Hoffarber leading the way, the Gophers opened the second half on a 20-8 run and pulled away from the Buckeyes for a 73-62 win. They outscored OSU 41-29 in the second half and shot 48 percent from behind the arc for the game. The Buckeyes went just 5-of-18 from long range.
Turner finished with eight rebounds and seven assists to go with his 19 points, but the Buckeyes were out-rebounded 29-25 and the Gophers finished with 18 assists on 20 made baskets.
The Buckeyes drop to 1-3 in the Big Ten, with all three losses coming on the road, and it doesn’t get any easier as they travel to West Lafayette Tuesday to face fourth-ranked Purdue, who suffered its first loss of the season Saturday at Wisconsin.
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