University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Fall To No. 2 Ohio State 85-67
2/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Lawrence McKenzie led Minnesota with 22 points and a career-high 10 assists in an 85-67 loss to second-ranked Ohio State this afternoon at Williams Arena. Greg Oden led four Buckeyes that scored in double figures to help Ohio State win its 11th in a row. Minnesota falls to 9-18, 3-10 in the Big Ten while Ohio State improved to 24-3, 12-1 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State shot 49 percent from the floor and held a 40-30 rebounding advantage and forced 15 Gopher turnovers. The Gophers shot a solid 46 percent fromt the floor and made 11-of-22 three-pointers. Jamal Abu-Shamala added 14 points and Lawrence Westbrook scored 11.
Thanks to some tough interior defense, Minnesota opened the game with a 7-6 lead just after the first media timeout. The Buckeyes scored the next eight points to take a seven-point lead at 14-7 on a Mike Conley Jr. layup. After a Ron Lewis three-pointer gave OSU a 17-8 lead, the Gophers chipped away, eventually pulling within 22-20 on two straight treys by McKenzie, the last one at the 8:11 mark. The treys gave McKenzie the all-time season three-pointer record with 72 on the year.
Lewis hit another jumper but Minnesota pulled within one at 24-23 on a McKenzie three-point play. Leading 28-26, Ohio State went on an 10-0 run to take a 12-point lead with 2:33 left in the half. An Othello Hunter dunk with 1:09 left gave Ohio State a 43-31 halftime lead. McKenzie shot a sizzling 6-of-8 in the first half, scoring 16 points.
Minnesota pulled within seven points at 47-40 with 15:00 left on a McKenzie tip-in but the Gophers would not get any closer. An 18-1 Buckeye run over the next five minutes put the Gophers away. A 7-0 Gopher run brought Minnesota within 16 but the Buckeyes rebuilt a 26-point lead with over three minutes remaining.
Oden led Ohio State with 19 points and nine rebounds while Lewis added 16 points. Hunter (15) and Ivan Harris (14) also scored in double figures but Conley had the most impressive stat line with 10 assists, five steals and six points.
Minnesota travels to Indiana on Wednesday night. The 6 p.m. game will be shown on KSTC Channel 45.
