Buckeyes rout Gophers

Ron Lewis added 16 points while Othello Hunter netted 15 for the Buckeyes (24-3, 12-1 Big Ten), who have won 11 straight games. Ivan Harris donated 14 in the win.

Ohio State looks to take over the No. 1 spot in the polls after Florida had its 17-game winning streak come to an end at Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Lawrence McKenzie poured in 22 points and Lawrence Westbrook scored 11 for the Golden Gophers (9-18, 3-10), who have lost five in a row.

A Westbrook free throw brought the Gophers within 26-24, but Ohio State netted 10 straight points on its way to a 15-5 run to close the half with a 43-31 margin. Minnesota went more than three minutes without scoring as well as turning the ball over five times to add fuel to the streak.

Mike Conley Jr. began the burst with a jumper before Jamar Butler’s shot moments later pushed the lead to 10, 36-26.

The Gophers opened up the second half tallying nine of the first 13 points, narrowing the gap to 47-40, however, the Buckeyes countered with an 18-1 surge, highlighted by Lewis’ offensive rebound and subsequent slam, extending the advantage to 65-41.

A pair of Westbrook layups brought Minnesota as close as 67-51 with almost eight minutes remaining but it never made a serious threat thereafter.

Dan Coleman’s jumper put the Golden Gophers ahead 7-6, but the Buckeyes scored nine of the next 11 points, capped by Lewis’ trey for a 17-8 margin.

Trailing 22-14, McKenzie took over and scored six straight to cut the deficit to 24-23.

Oden began the game slowly missing his first four shots while turning the ball over twice, but then went on to hit four of his next five shots from the floor before picking up his second foul with nearly 7 1/2 minutes to play in the first.

Game Notes

Ohio State leads all-time series 73-46...McKenzie scored 16 of Minnesota’s 31 first-half points...The Buckeyes shot 50 percent from the field, including 7- of-15 from long distance, while the Gophers connected on 46 percent of their shots from the floor, including 11-of-22 from beyond the arc...Ohio State won the battle of the boards, 40-30...The Buckeyes welcome Penn State while Minnesota plays at Indiana on Wednesday.