Gophers Couldn't Contain Jared Sullinger, William Buford In Loss To Buckeyes

The Minnesota Golden Gophers looked like they were going to be dominated midway through the first half of Tuesday night's Big Ten meeting with the Ohio St. Buckeyes. It didn't turn out to be as bad as it could have been thank to Tubby Smith switching to a stifling zone defense, but the Jared Sullinger and William Buford proved to be too much as the Gophers dropped a 78-68 decision at Williams Arena.

It seemed like the dagger came in the first half, when Sullinger drilled a three-pointer to put the Buckeyes up 35-14 with just under six minutes left until halftime, but the Gophers were able to cut the lead to 12 in time for intermission and kept it respectable the rest of the way. Respectable still amounted in a loss, however, dropping the Gophers to 17-9 this season with a 5-8 record in the conference.

Rodney Williams led the Gophers with 21 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, but it wasn't enough to counteract the impact Sullinger and Buford had on the game. Buford actually had the better game statistically with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but Sullinger's 23 points and eight rebounds -- while making 10-of-12 from the charity stripe -- was nothing to scoff at.

There were positives to be found in the Gophers loss, however, as Julian Welch finished with 11 points and nine rebounds while Oto Osienaks and Elliott Eliason both came off the bench to provide not-terrible production up front despite being overmatched by the Ohio State bigs.

With the loss, the Gophers will need to impress quite a bit the rest of the month in order to be considered for an NCAA Tournament berth -- and that won't be easy, either, considering they still have games with three ranked opponents in Michigan State, Indiana and Wisconsin sandwiched between Northwestern and Nebraska.

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The Minnesota Golden Gophers aren't being touted as a team that will make noise in this year's NCAA Tournament, but that could all change if they're able to upset the Ohio St. Buckeyes on Tuesday night. It won't be easy, of course, but it will be on television.

Tubby Smith's team will be the second game in an ESPN doubleheader when they host Jared Sullinger and the rest of the Buckeyes at Williams Arena. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip-off, but The Daily Gopher expects that the time that'll matter is whenever the Buckeyes starters get tired.

Just looking over the rosters, if the Gophers have one area where they can maybe gain some traction tonight it will be with their depth. OSU's starters play a lot of minutes and they just played a game on Saturday night (we played on Thursday). So maybe we can catch them on a night when their legs are tired and they are looking ahead to their game on Saturday at Michigan.

The other plan, according to head coach Tubby Smith, is to keep Sullinger out of the paint. The team will probably end up trying whatever works ... and even some things that don't.

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The Minnesota Golden Gophers have a pretty big games on Tuesday night as they attempt to match-up with the Ohio State Buckeyes. In actuality, though, it'll be more like all of the Gophers trying to figure out how to stop Jared Sullinger.

Tubby Smith told the assembled media that won't be an easy task, though -- especially considering Trevor Mbakwe has long been out of the Gophers lineup due to injury. The coach told the Pioneer Press that he learned some things by watching the Michigan State Spartans handle Sullinger, though, that he plans to implement as well.

"They forced Jared away from the basket more. They stayed out on the shooters," Smith said. "Sometimes they would come down and fake the trap. Sometimes they'd trap. Sometimes they would stay out. They did a good job of mixing things up. We'd like to hope we would be on the same level with Michigan State, but certainly they do a fantastic job rebounding ball, too. That's also a tell tale when they can hold a team to one shot."

Whether it works or not will be determined during the game, but it sounds good in theory.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also learn more about college basketball around the nation at SB Nation's College Basketball hub.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers aren't necessarily out o the picture yet, but they're got a long way to go with some very tough competition up ahead. All the more reason to rise to the occasion and knock off the Ohio State Buckeyes en route to a late-season resurgence that puts them in the title picture. A little unrealistic and perhaps slightly dramatic? Sure, but it's definitely a possibility.

But it's clear some changes need to be made, namely regarding Joe Coleman. He's a part of the starting five, but hasn't scored in three consecutive games. He's essentially been invisible on the court out there, and playing a man down against Ohio State is basketball suicide.

According to the Star Tribune, Minnesota plans to replace Coleman with Andre Hollins in the starting five. Hollins has been given one of the maroon jerseys reserved for starters, and has played very well off the bench lately. Offensively, he's been the kind of spark the team needs, so it makes sense to give him the nod against an Ohio State squad that is going to be tough right out of the gate.

For more on the Minnesota Golden Gophers, check out The Daily Gopher. You can also learn more about college basketball around the nation at SB Nation's College Basketball hub.