The Ohio State men’s basketball team could not sustain the momentum they had built under interim head coach jake Diebler. Despite upsetting #2 ranked Purdue in Diebler’s head coaching debut, the Buckeyes dropped their very next contest, losing to the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a score of 79-88. The loss in Minneapolis was Ohio State’s 17th consecutive road loss, setting a new school record.

Despite former head coach Chris Holtmann no longer being with the team, the first several minutes of the contest looked much like the end of the Holtmann era, with the Gophers jumping out to an early 8-0 lead having made their first seven field goal attempts.

Diebler’s Buckeyes were able to scratch and crawl there way back to a 30-30 tie, but just like the opening minutes of the half, Minnesota got hot, going on a 12-4 run to close the opening half of play and lead Ohio State 42-34.

Although the Buckeyes were able to make it respectable in the second half, they never could find the stops they needed against a game Gopher offense that was led by Elijah Hawkins who scored 24 points, Dawson Garcia who collected 22, and Pharrel Payne who chipped in with 15 points.

The Buckeyes had three players score in double figures with Bruce Thornton leading the way with 25 points. The former Gopher Jamison Battle added 22, and Roddy Gayle Jr. finished the night with 13 points.

Ohio State will try not add to their record losing streak on the road as they travel to East Lansing, Michigan for a Sunday afternoon matchup against Tom Izzo’s Spartans. Tip is scheduled for 4 pm. Ohio State  will go into the contest with an overall record of 15-12, 5-11 in conference place.