Minnesota Golden Gophers drop Big Ten opener to Buckeyes
The Minnesota Golden Gophers dropped their Big Ten opener against the Buckeyes in Columbus.
That Top 20 recruiting class that Richard Pitino has coming to the University of Minnesota next season better be the real deal, because this season’s edition of the Golden Gophers is nothing to really write home about. The Gophers dropped their Big Ten opener 78-63 in a matchup with Ohio State in Columbus.
Ohio State got out to a big lead, the Gophers cut it to a one point lead in the second half, but the better team in the end spread it out again and defeated Minnesota.
Minnesota was led by Carlos Morris. Morris had 18 points in the conference opener with six rebounds and three steals. Jordan Murphy and Nate Mason were the only other Golden Gophers to reach double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
A storyline that is emerging is the lack of production from Joey King. At the beginning of the season, King was the guy for the Gophers scoring about 20 per game. King scored only seven points on Wednesday in Ohio with only one made field goal. King only shot eight times in 38 minutes of play.
More from Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Former Minnesota Gopher Stoudermire finds home in the CFL
- Lindsay Whalen takes Gophers coaching job, statue sure to follow
- Can Motzko lead the Gophers back to prominence?
- What to watch for: Golden Gopher spring football
- Golden Gopher Women’s basketball faces UW-Green Bay in NCAA
Also on the disappointing side of the boxscore, Charles Buggs did absolutely nothing in his 17 minutes of play against the Buckeyes. Buggs didn’t score and his only marks in the boxscore were a defensive rebound, a turnover and three personal fouls.
The Buckeyes were led by Marc Loving who scored 20 points including going three-for-five from three-point land in the contest.
Next: How many assists did Ricky Rubio have?!
It doesn’t get easier for the Gophers as they host current #1 Michigan State on Saturday. It’s likely Michigan State will no longer be the top ranked team in the nation next week after the Spartans’ loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday in Iowa.