Geoff JohnsonThe Big Ten has plenty of interesting teams this season and two of them will clash this Wednesday as the Minnesota Golden Gophers visit the Ohio State Buckeyes, at 7 PM ET at Value City Arena.
Ohio State needs to gain their confidence back as they have lost three of the last four, including a 22 beating against Wisconsin on Saturday.
“We’ve seen the results if we’re not going to play defensively. We’re not a good basketball team,” coach Thad Matta said. “If we’re going to rely on trying to outscore people, that’s not going to happen.”
“The way we opened the game defensively, guys catch and shoot, we weren’t even challenging shots,” Matta said.
Just like Ohio State, Minnesota has lost three of the last four, but also seven of the last 10. Their last loss came against Iowa 72-51. Iowa outscored Minnesota 37-10 in a 20-minute stretch spanning the halves.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen such a dramatic turnaround in such a short time as a coach of any team that I’ve had,” said Minnesota’s Tubby Smith, who has been coaching college ball since 1979. “That’s about as disappointing of a loss as I’ve ever had.”
“Anyone can play well if you give them the ball 17 times if you don’t take good shots. If you don’t play with patience and poise,” Smith said. “But they still made the shots. They shot it extremely well.”
