Jake Diebler tries to stay perfect as Ohio St. visits Minnesota

Ohio State will look to win its second straight game under interim coach Jake Diebler when it tips off against Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference matchup on Thursday night in Minneapolis.

The Buckeyes are coming off a stunning 73-69 win over then-No. 2 Purdue on Sunday in Diebler's first game at the helm. Diebler took over for Chris Holtmann, who was fired on Feb. 14.

"What a resilient group," Diebler said. "We have some great young men in there who came together ... these last few days in a way that I don't know if any of us fully anticipated that they could get to in a short amount of time."

Now Ohio State (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten) will try to keep its momentum going against Minnesota (16-9, 7-7).

The Golden Gophers are coming off an 81-70 win against Rutgers on Sunday. Pharrel Payne led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Elijah Hawkins had a team-high seven assists.

Minnesota coach Ben Johnson praised Payne for his dominance in the paint.

"I thought he was possessed on the glass," Johnson said. "I thought he went and got a couple statement rebounds, and those are loud rebounds. That trickles down to everybody else on the floor. They see a guy go up there and get it, there's an intensity to that."

This will be the second and final matchup of the regular season between the teams. Ohio State recorded an 84-74 win on its home court on Dec. 3.

The Buckeyes led 42-28 at halftime and held on in the second half despite being outscored 46-42.

Bruce Thornton led Ohio State with 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting in the win against Minnesota. Jamison Battle finished with 25 points on 7-for-12 shooting against his former school.

Dawson Garcia registered a double-double for Minnesota with 36 points and 11 rebounds. Cam Christie contributed 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting off the bench.

The Golden Gophers are 14-3 at home this season. The Buckeyes are 4-7 away from home, but that includes a 4-0 record in neutral environments and an 0-7 mark in opponents' venues.