From start to finish, Jamison Battle sparks Ohio State in win over Golden Gophers

COLUMBUS — When Minnesota visited the Schottenstein Center last January, the Golden Gophers escaped with their first Big Ten win of the season, in part thanks to a controversial foul call on Buckeyes point guard Bruce Thornton’s potential game-saving block attempt.

This time around, Ohio State didn’t leave the conference bout up to a late-game call.

This time around, Ohio State had Jamison Battle.

The former Minnesota star, who spent the last two years with the Golden Gophers, sparked what was another impressive offensive outing for the surging Buckeyes — from start to finish.

Battle poured in eight straight points early in the Big Ten opener, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers in the process, as Ohio State staked itself to an 11-2 advantage.

That lead then blossomed to 30-12. Minnesota climbed its way back, starting at the end of the first half, and even drew within two possessions of the Buckeyes in the second period. But Battle delivered a much-needed answer not once but twice down the stretch to jumpstart Ohio State.

Battle’s resolve helped the Buckeyes hold on for an 84-74 victory, their sixth win in a row.

“When you’re a player, one of the greatest lessons to learn is when you lose yourself in your team playing well, you typically play pretty well,” explained Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann after he was asked about Battle’s season-high 25-point showing.

“And it’s a challenge for young players, it’s a challenge for old players because they want to play well. But when their focus is just on the team playing well, you kind of lose yourself in the bigger picture.”

Holtmann added: “I thought that was his focus — a result of that was he really did play well.”

Minnesota (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) entered with a -3.6 turnover margin per game. Ohio State (7-1, 1-0) instantly uncovered that Gopher blemish, scoring five of its first 11 points off turnovers.

An Evan Mahaffey steal led to the Buckeyes’ first 3-pointer, which Roddy Gayle Jr. rattled in. Then a Thornton theft ultimately set the stage for a pair of Battle free throws.

Minnesota had nine first-half turnovers, off which the Buckeyes scored 11 points.

The Gophers momentarily recovered, courtesy of four consecutive makes at the charity stripe from standout big man Dawson Garcia. He made a habit of drawing contact Sunday, finishing 12-of-14 from the line and clocking out with a career-high 36 points, the most an opposing player has ever scored at Value City Arena.

A pair of field goals from Mike Mitchell Jr. kept Minnesota within six points of the Buckeyes. But then Thornton — as he’s been wont to do this year — took over with the first of two Ohio State runs.

The 14-2 surge saw Thornton score every which way. He completed two of his three and-ones on the night, first with a floater and then with a head-turning layup that he somehow got to go over two Minnesota defenders. Tack on a smooth jumper in between, and Ohio State was cooking with gas.

The flurry of makes from Thornton, who finished with a team-high 26 points, were followed by a highlight-reel Gayle jumper. Gayle’s field goal was made possible by him stopping on a dime — sending forward Parker Fox flying — pivoting and then pulling up from mid range. Soon after, the sophomore guard found a wide-open Zed Key down low, and the center hammered home a dunk.

A Dale Bonner floater extended the Buckeyes’ lead to 30-12 and forced Minnesota head coach Ben Johnson to call a timeout.

Joshua Ola-Joseph drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing out of the break, and Garcia scored moments later, but that breather didn’t last long for the Gophers.

Cue a 12-3 Buckeyes run. Ohio State freshman forward Scotty Middleton got in on the scoring fun with two jumpers, the first a mid-range shot off the bounce and the next a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the right corner.

Gayle polished off the sequence with a spin move and finish near the cup despite contact. His free throw grew the Buckeyes’ advantage to 42-20.

Ohio State looked its most vulnerable at the end of the first half and start of the second. Minnesota closed the opening frame with eight straight points, the final two of which came on a Pharrel Payne dunk. The Buckeyes missed three of their first four shots out of intermission, and their lone make was a two-handed flush by center Felix Okpara off an offensive rebound.

Garcia piloted the Gophers, just like in last year’s meeting between the Big Ten foes when he erupted for 28 points and nine rebounds.

“We needed it,” Johnson said of Garcia’s dominant performance. He’s got to be a guy that we can play through in the post and on the perimeter. And he had it going.”

Garcia scored 16 of Minnesota’s first 20 second-half points, and he gave the Buckeyes all they could handle inside. Battle was often matched up with his former teammate. Although he got the best of Garcia once — recording a block that he followed with a baseline layup on the other end — he needed help slowing down the Gophers’ leading scorer.

Holtmann even turned to a big lineup that included centers Okpara and Key, along with Battle to counteract not only Garcia but also Payne, both of whom stand 6-foot-9 or taller.

Thornton gave the Buckeyes their first jolt in the second half, notably cashing in on his third old-fashioned 3-point play game of the night. Another Middleton 3-pointer got Ohio State’s lead back to 20, making the score 54-34 with 15:22 remaining.

Garcia almost single-handedly kept Minnesota alive, perhaps best exemplified by his steal and thunderous breakaway dunk near the midway point of the period.

Battle was the next Buckeyes’ scorer to answer. He did so to the tune of a corner 3-pointer and then a dunk of his own. Thornton stole the ball from Howard transfer point guard Elijah Hawkins and sprung a pass down the court for Battle, who ignited the arena by dropping off a smooth, two-handed dunk that put the Buckeyes ahead, 66-52.

Minnesota — and namely Garcia, for that matter — wasn’t going away.

Triples from guards Cam Christie and Hawkins played a big part in the Gophers pulling within six points of Ohio State late in the second half. Especially because the second 3-pointer was coupled with two Garcia free throws, following an off-ball foul on Battle.

Who else but Battle sparked the Buckeyes’ final push. He made the first of three consecutive Ohio State 3-pointers. Thornton and Gayle followed suit, restoring the Buckeyes’ double-digit lead and effectively securing their first Big Ten win of the season.

“It’s straight confidence,” Thornton said of the back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, which took place in a 75-second span. “I had confidence in everybody to make those types of shots in practice because we work on it non-stop.

“When you have that type of confidence and that type of faith in your teammates, man. You feel like every shot’s going to go in.”

That’s the way Ohio State is rolling right now. The Buckeyes are on a six-game win streak and have won each of those games by double digits.

Thornton and Battle — who were part of Ohio State and Minnesota teams, respectively, that bottomed out the Big Ten standings last year — both know significant work still needs to be done.

“You take your win, you take ’em in and then you’re on to the next,” Battle said. “Don’t be so satisfied, because that satisfaction is going to catch up with you eventually.”