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A very sloppy first half of action has Ohio State tied with the Minnesota Golden Golphers at 29 after 20 minutes of play at Williams Arena.
The Buckeyes forced Minnesota into 10 first half turnovers, but Ohio State has trouble converting many into baskets, shooting just 38% from the field.
The Golden Golphers looked to take advantage of their size down low whenever Buckeye center Amir Williams left the game.
Junior center Elliot Eliason kept the Golphers in the game despite their plethora of miscues by battling on the offensive boards with Ohio State's bigs. Eliason finished the half with eight points and six rebounds, and with less than four minutes to play in the half Minnesota led by six.
However, a Slam Thompson alley oop slam seemed to ignite a fire under the Buckeyes and LaQuinton Ross, who continued his hot shooting from his previous game against Iowa, tied the game at the end of the half with a swooping lay-in with time running down.
Ross' 11 points on 5-9 from the field saved Ohio State from an otherwise pedestrian shooting performance. The Buckeyes' second leading scorer, Lenzelle Smith Jr. continued his shooting slump as he went just 2-7 from the floor.
Minnesota's guard Deandre Mathieu chipped in with eight points of his own in the first half as well.