Ohio State visits Minnesota after Thornton's 22-point game

Published Feb. 22, 2024 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Ohio State Buckeyes (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (16-9, 7-7 Big Ten)

Minneapolis; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Golden Gophers -3.5; over/under is 139.5

BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State visits the Minnesota Golden Gophers after Bruce Thornton scored 22 points in Ohio State's 73-69 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Golden Gophers are 14-3 on their home court. Minnesota is 3-2 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Buckeyes are 5-10 against Big Ten opponents. Ohio State is fifth in the Big Ten with 36.5 rebounds per game led by Felix Okpara averaging 6.4.

Minnesota makes 47.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 4.2 percentage points higher than Ohio State has allowed to its opponents (43.3%). Ohio State has shot at a 44.5% clip from the field this season, 1.8 percentage points above the 42.7% shooting opponents of Minnesota have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dawson Garcia is scoring 17.4 points per game and averaging 6.5 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Cam Christie is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

Thornton is scoring 16.1 points per game and averaging 3.3 rebounds for the Buckeyes. Roddy Gayle Jr. is averaging 13.1 points and 2.6 rebounds over the last 10 games for Ohio State.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 4-6, averaging 72.3 points, 34.2 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points per game.

Buckeyes: 3-7, averaging 70.2 points, 31.3 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 5.1 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.4 points.

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