Minnesota Downs Buckeyes, 89-71 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 26, 2002
Box Score
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota coach Dan Monson sent a message to two of his three co-captains who hadn’t been playing well.
They sat at the start of Saturday’s game against No. 20 Ohio State, and the message got through.
Travarus Bennett scored a career-high 21 points for Minnesota in an 89-71 upset of the Buckeyes, ending their nine-game winning streak and handing them their first Big Ten loss in almost a year.
“Travarus is the one guy who kind of had to take over when I challenged the captains,” Monson said. “We don’t win without his effort.”
Monson told point guard Kevin Burleson and forwards Michael Bauer and Dusty Rychart on Friday they might not start. He was unhappy with the example they had been setting for the rest of the team, which had lost two straight since a road victory against Purdue.
“I couldn’t sit all three of them – you’ve got to have some experience on the court,” Monson said. “I told them it’s like disciplining my son. You’ve got to take some things away that really mean something. They really responded to that.”
Rick Rickert added 19 points for the Golden Gophers (11-7, 4-3), who shot 9-for-15 from 3-point range and beat the Buckeyes for the first time in five games under Monson. Minnesota entered as the Big Ten’s worst 3-point shooting team.
“The threes came in a good context,” Monson said. “Going in and kicking out, instead of just passing around the 3-point line and jacking.”
The Buckeyes (15-3, 6-1) were seventh in the nation in scoring defense entering the game (58.0) but allowed their highest point total this season.
“This was not one of our defensive efforts, but I think more of the credit should go to them,” Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien said. “We had a hard time guarding their length. Usually if we can get 71 points, we’ll have a good chance to win.” The Buckeyes lost for the first time in 14 conference games – dating to a 70-67 defeat to Indiana last Jan. 31.
“We weren’t ever thinking about going undefeated in the Big Ten,” said Brian Brown, who had 14 points. “We were just taking it one game at a time.”
Sean Connolly led Ohio State with 17 points, including three 3-pointers down the stretch, and Brent Darby added 14 points.
The Buckeyes trailed by 10 points early in the second half before a flurry of turnovers and foolish fouls by Minnesota helped fuel a 21-2 Ohio State run.
Second-half lapses by the Gophers have drawn the ire of Monson, who took a timeout to scream at his team during that stretch. Shortly after, Brown’s baseline drive yielded a three-point play that put the Buckeyes up 54-46 with 14:15 left.
But Minnesota tied it with eight straight points and took a 65-61 lead with 8:22 remaining on a 3-pointer by Bennett. Jerry Holman swatted away Darby’s 3-point attempt on the next possession, sending the crowd at Williams Arena into a frenzy.
“We had that spark,” Brown said, “but we lost it and we never got it back.”
Perimeter play on both ends of the court is the Buckeyes’ biggest strength, but timely outside shooting by the Gophers kept Ohio State from creating any momentum in an intense first half.
Minnesota was 7-for-11 from long range in the first 20 minutes, and Bauer’s 3 gave the Gophers their biggest lead of the half, 38-30 with 2:38 to go.
Burleson made a pretty backdoor pass to Holman for a dunk that made it 40-33 just before halftime. He justified Monson’s decision to bench him by scoring six points and totaling nine assists against just one turnover.
“I think it was a good decision,” Burleson said. “We haven’t been leading the team lately, especially me. Look what happened, we got a win.”
