As a senior for Ohio State, Aaron Craft had never lost three straight games – until now.
This isn’t exactly the kind of new experience that Craft will treasure from his college career.
Elliott Eliason had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Minnesota muscle past the 11th-ranked Buckeyes for a 63-53 victory Thursday night, the first time Ohio State has lost three games in a row since February 2009.
“We’ve been knocked down. We’ve lost games. But this is the first time this is ever happened since I’ve been here. So it’s not a good place to be,” said Craft, who committed a game-high five turnovers and finished with seven points on 2-for-6 shooting.
DeAndre Mathieu had 13 points, five assists and three steals for the Golden Gophers (14-4, 3-2 Big Ten), who gave new coach Richard Pitino his first signature win. They did it by backing down the Buckeyes and owning the area around the basket, posting a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint and a 39-24 rebounding edge.
LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points for the Buckeyes (15-3, 2-3), who lost to Minnesota for the first time in seven meetings since 2010. The other four Ohio State starters combined for only 19 points, and the conference’s second-worst free throw shooting team went 11 for 18 from the foul line.
Coach Thad Matta had a stern message for his players afterward.
“He just told us, `Right now we’re at rock bottom,”‘ Ross said. “We can’t get no lower than this.”
The Buckeyes lost last week at Michigan State and then at home to Iowa, hardly blemishes on their resume, but they’re going to have to snap out of this slide soon to keep up in the top-heavy Big Ten. The Buckeyes fell to 25-4 following losses over the last five seasons.
Matta seemed at a loss. The 10 turnovers in the second half and the shot selection throughout the night especially irked him.
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