Thursday, January 20, 2005
The Buckeyes dropped their second-straight overtime game with the 60-56 loss.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Dan Coleman followed his own miss with a tip-in with 22.4 seconds left in overtime to give Minnesota a 60-56 win over Ohio State on Wednesday night.
After Terence Dials missed a 12-foot fadeaway with 7 seconds remaining, Aaron Robinson rebounded for Minnesota (13-4, 3-1 Big Ten) and was fouled. He hit both shots to seal the outcome.
Vincent Grier led the Golden Gophers with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Minnesota had won 10 in a row until losing at Iowa 66-60 on Saturday.
Terence Dials scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds for Ohio State (12-6, 1-2), which lost its third in a row. Matt Sylvester added a career-high 17 points -- scoring 11 Buckeyes points in a row at one point as Ohio State came back from a 10-point second-half deficit.
Deciding rally
The Buckeyes, who hit 18-of-34 3-pointers in a 113-102 double-overtime loss at LSU on Saturday night, hit just 2 of 21 behind the arc against Minnesota.
Ohio State trailed 35-25 with under 14 minutes remaining, but went on a 17-2 run -- with Sylvester leading the way -- to forge a 42-37 lead.
Next it was Grier's turn to take over, scoring nine Minnesota points in a row for a 51-49 lead. Sylvester scored the final points of regulation on a bank shot off an inbounds play with 55 seconds left.
Ohio State had a chance to win the game in regulation but Brandon Fuss-Cheatham's off-balance 18-footer with 2 seconds left hit the front of the rim.
The teams traded baskets in the overtime before Coleman drove and his layup rolled off the rim, but he got a hand on the rebound to knock it in.
Minnesota's starting center, Jeff Hagen, sprained his left knee late in the first half and was helped off the floor. He was going for an offensive rebound when Ohio State's Dials fell backwards and rolled over his leg. Hagen did not return to the game.
The Golden Gophers led 19-8 at one point in the first half but failed to score on their next 10 possessions. They still were on top 24-18 at halftime, holding Ohio State to its lowest point total for a half this season.
The Buckeyes had just seven field goals in the opening half and misfired on all eight 3-point attempts.