Garcia leads Minnesota against Ohio State after 20-point performance

Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten)

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press
January 6, 2025 at 8:44AM

Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten)

Minneapolis; Monday, 9 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Buckeyes -5.5; over/under is 137

BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hosts Ohio State after Dawson Garcia scored 20 points in Minnesota's 81-61 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Golden Gophers have gone 8-3 at home. Minnesota has a 2-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Buckeyes have gone 1-2 against Big Ten opponents. Ohio State is eighth in the Big Ten with 24.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Devin Royal averaging 5.1.

Minnesota makes 44.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.2 percentage points higher than Ohio State has allowed to its opponents (38.5%). Ohio State averages 8.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.0 more made shots on average than the 6.4 per game Minnesota allows.

The matchup Monday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lu'Cye Patterson is averaging 10 points and 3.9 assists for the Golden Gophers.

Bruce Thornton is shooting 54.0% and averaging 16.9 points for the Buckeyes.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 5-5, averaging 68.6 points, 30.8 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 5.7 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.0 points per game.

Buckeyes: 6-4, averaging 83.3 points, 30.0 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 50.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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