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Ohio State downs Minnesota

Feb 15, 2012 - 5:24 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - William Buford had 24 points and Jared Sullinger chipped in 23 as No. 6 Ohio State downed Minnesota, 78-68, at Williams Arena on Tuesday.

Buford and Sullinger each added eight rebounds and Deshaun Thomas netted 12 points for the Buckeyes (22-4, 10-3 Big Ten), who were coming off a 58-48 loss to Michigan State on Saturday, snapping a six-game win streak.

"I think we had a good workout Sunday night and even yesterday," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta about his team's resiliency after Saturday's loss. "Hopefully we're learning what it takes to get ourselves ready and bounce back after a loss."

Rodney Williams had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Julian Welch added 11 points to go with nine assists for Minnesota (17-9, 5-8), which dropped three of its last four contests.

William Buford's trey with 14:07 left in the first half sparked a 13-0 run for the Buckeyes as they jumped out to a 40-28 lead at the break.

Turnovers plagued the Golden Gophers in the first half as they turned the ball over 11 times, leading to eight points for the Buckeyes.

"I was really disappointed, that was disturbing," Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith said about his team falling behind early. "We had guys that felt the pressure and tried to score. That's what happens when you see guys inside getting their shot blocked and taking it up when they should have passed it. We needed better defense, we needed to rebound and get some stops."

A Rodney Williams jumper sparked a 7-0 run for Minnesota to cut the deficit to single digits, 53-44, with just over 12 minutes to play.

Minnesota would pull within eight after an Austin Hollins layup made it 72-64 with 1:07 to play.

The Buckeyes then went 1-of-2 from the line, and after Minnesota missed a three-pointer, Deshaun Thomas threw down a fastbreak dunk to put Ohio State back up double digits.

Game Notes

Ohio State leads the series 81-49, but is 31-33 all-time in Minneapolis...Minnesota shot 25 percent from long range, while Ohio State shot 31.6 percent...The Buckeyes recorded 10 steals and the Golden Gophers managed just four thefts.