Trevor Thompson had a career-high 19 points to lead Ohio State over Minnesota on Wednesday, but he wouldn’t let himself be happy and said his teammates shouldn’t be either.
”We don’t have time to feel good,” Thompson said after the Buckeyes’ 78-72 victory, capped by two critical blocks in the last 20 seconds by the 7-foot center.
”We can’t relax, we can’t feel good,” he said. ”We can’t take this win and think that we’re there because we’re not by any shape or form. We just got to continue to chip away.”
The Buckeyes have won three of their last four after losing their first four Big Ten games but have been beset with wildly inconsistent play. They must pull of a string of wins in the last 10 regular-season games to have a chance of getting back to the NCAA Tournament after being relegated to the NIT last year.
Marc Loving bounced back from a disappointing performance in a loss Sunday to also score 19 as Ohio State dealt the Gophers (15-4, 3-5 Big Ten) their fourth straight loss.
Ohio State (13-8, 3-5) played one of its better games of the season against an evenly matched team, shooting 50 percent and making 23 of 30 free throws, including all nine in the first half. The Buckeyes scored 19 off Minnesota turnovers.
JaQuan Lyle had 11 points and Jae’Sean Tate added 10 for the Buckeyes. Thompson played 32 minutes, grabbed 10 rebounds and hit 3 of 4 shots from beyond the arc. He’s scored in double figures in seven straight games.
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