Elijah Hawkins scored 24 points and dished seven assists, and Minnesota held on for an 88-79 win over Ohio State in a Big Ten Conference matchup Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Dawson Garcia finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota (17-9, 8-7), which won its second game in a row. Pharrel Payne added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Bruce Thornton compiled 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting to lead Ohio State (15-12, 5-11). Jamison Battle, who transferred from Minnesota, scored 21 points in his former arena.
Minnesota led by as many as 17 points with 5:11 to go. A free throw by Braeden Carrington made it 72-55 in favor of the Golden Gophers, and they never looked back the rest of the way.
The Golden Gophers opened up a double-digit lead early in the second half. Hawkins drained a 3-pointer to make it 50-39 in favor of Minnesota with 16:49 remaining.
Ohio State pulled within 57-50 on a jump shot by Thornton with 9:48 to go.
Minnesota answered with an 8-0 run to seize a 65-50 advantage with 8:27 left. Hawkins and Cam Christie hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Parker Fox made two free throws to finish the run.
Minnesota led 42-34 at the half.
The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 12-2 lead to start the game. Mike Mitchell Jr. made a pair of 3-pointers in the first three minutes, and Garcia made one 3-pointer.
Minnesota increased its lead to 22-9 with 13:47 remaining in the first half. The Golden Gophers scored six straight points on a 3-pointer by Hawkins, two free throws by Garcia and one free throw by Fox.
Ohio State responded with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 22-17 with 12:29 left in the half. Scotty Middleton made back-to-back 3-pointers during the run.
The score was tied at 32-32 when Minnesota went on a 10-2 run to finish the half. Garcia made a layup with 15 seconds left to give the Golden Gophers an eight-point lead at the break.
–Field Level Media