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Ohio State routs Minnesota

Feb 23, 2014 - 3:48 AM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Sam Thompson scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help No. 24 Ohio State roll past Minnesota, 64-46, at Value City Arena.

Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 13 points and Shannon Scott scored 10 for the Buckeyes (22-6, 9-6 Big Ten), winners in three straight and six of their last seven overall.

"In this league, you need to play like every game is the biggest game of your life. If you're not ready to compete, fight or execute, you're going to be embarrassed," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "It's going to be exactly the same when we play Penn State on Wednesday. We have to get ourselves ready to go."

Andre Hollins scored 13 points and DeAndre Mathieu chipped in with 12 points for the Golden Gophers (17-11, 6-9), who have dropped three of four.

"We hijack ourselves. We don't allow ourselves to win. We do some things turnover-wise that are just inexplicable and they lead to baskets for them. You can't do that against very good teams," said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino.

Mathieu's layup less than a minute into the second half put Minnesota up 30-18, but Ohio State would open a 27-5 run to take a 45-35 lead. Thompson, who ended the run with a slam, scored 12 points during the burst.

Malik Smith ended the flurry with a pair of free throws, but Scott knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to ignite a 17-4 burst that helped the Buckeyes put it out of reach.

Ohio State went 17-for-30 from the field in the second half, after going just 6-for-22 over the first 20 minutes.

Minnesota opened the game on a 7-0 run, but OSU countered with a 7-0 burst of its own to knot things up at the 13:38 mark.

Thompson nailed a 3-pointer with just under five minutes left in the half to pull OSU within 17-16, but Minnesota closed the half on a 11-2 run to take a 28-18 lead into the break.

Game Notes

OSU outscored Minnesota 34-20 in the paint ... Aaron Craft had six points, five assists and four steals for the Buckeyes ... OSU will visit Penn State on Thursday ... Minnesota will host No. 15 Iowa on Tuesday.