Ohio State Downs Minnesota, 73-66 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2001
Box Score| Notes
By JOHN AKERS
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS – Ken Johnson scored a career-high 28 points and helped Ohio State ward off another Minnesota rally in a 73-66 victory over the Gophers on Saturday night.
The Buckeyes (14-8, 5-5 Big Ten) led by 53-32 with 12:37 remaining, but the Gophers used a three-quarter court press to cut the lead to 66-60 with 3:18 left.
Ohio State then went to Johnson, who scored on a dunk and made 3 of 4 free throws on the Buckeyes’ next three possessions to increase their lead to 71-60. The Buckeyes made 20 of 25 free throws in the second half.
The Gophers also pulled within 71-66 in the game’s closing seconds.
When the teams met on Jan. 13, the Gophers rallied from a 23-point deficit but the Buckeyes held on for a 75-72 victory.
The Buckeyes led by 8-0 in the opening minutes and by 40-23 at halftime.
The Gophers (15-7, 3-7) have staged furious rallies in each of their past five games but were successful in only a 78-74 overtime victory over Indiana on Jan. 20, when they came back from a 13-point deficit with 2:58 remaining.
The loss was the Gophers’ fourth in a row and their second without forward Michael Bauer, who broke his forearm against Purdue last Saturday.
Dusty Rychart led Minnesota with 21 points.
