Gophers Beat Jamison Battle’s Buckeyes; Close in on NCAA Tournament Conversation

Minnesota Gophers gain big win vs Ohio State

With Christie struggling, Elijah Hawkins took over as Minnesota’s primary backcourt scorer. The nation’s assist leader put up a career high 24 points to go along with another 7 dimes. Garcia had another big night too, posting a double-double with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Pharrel Payne also added 15 points and 4 rebounds, Mike Mitchell dumped in 8 points and 5 assists.

The Buckeyes fought until the very end and even found a way to close the gap to 7 points with 18 seconds left to play. But when the dust settled, the Gophers closed out an 88-79 victory, their second-straight win, leaving no doubt that this is one of the best Gopher basketball teams we’ve had on campus in years.

But as the season goes on, the Gophers seem to believe in their talent more and more and their play seems to improved exponentially on a night-in and night-out basis. And right now, they have themselves playing like one of the best basketball teams in the entire Big Ten and March is less than two weeks away…