Thornton leads Ohio State against Minnesota after 25-point outing

Sat, Dec 2, 2023
NCAAB News (AP)

Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-2) at Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1)

Columbus, Ohio; Sunday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State hosts the Minnesota Golden Gophers after Bruce Thornton scored 25 points in Ohio State's 88-61 victory against the Central Michigan Chippewas.

The Buckeyes are 4-1 in home games. Ohio State ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 15.0 assists per game led by Thornton averaging 4.4.

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The Golden Gophers play their first true road game after going 5-2 to start the season. Minnesota averages 79.7 points while outscoring opponents by 13.1 points per game.

Ohio State makes 47.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.8 percentage points higher than Minnesota has allowed to its opponents (39.5%). Minnesota averages 7.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.2 more makes per game than Ohio State gives up.

The Buckeyes and Golden Gophers match up Sunday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jamison Battle averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Buckeyes, scoring 12.4 points while shooting 38.6% from beyond the arc. Thornton is shooting 45.1% and averaging 18.3 points for Ohio State.

Dawson Garcia is averaging 18.3 points and 7.7 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Cam Christie is averaging 11.0 points for Minnesota.

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