Stamper Basket Gives Gophers Season Sweep of Buckeyes
Saturday, February 19, 2005

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said his team “played our defense to perfection” as they tried to hold a one-point lead in the final minute of play. Minnesota’s Brent Lawson attempted to thread the needle with a pass into the Buckeye zone. J. J. Sullinger got a hand on the pass, deflecting it into the air. Rather than ended up as a turnover, however, Lawson’s pass bounced off the backboard and into the waiting hands of J’son Stamper, who put it back with 34.9 seconds left to put Minnesota ahead to stay.

Aaron Robinson increased the lead to 52-50 by making one of two free throws with 10.1 seconds left, and the Gophers withstood one last rush to hang on for a victory at Williams Arena, giving Minnesota a season sweep over the Buckeyes.

The game had similarities to one that the Gophers let get away against Northwestern 10 days earlier—other than the final outcome. As they had done against the Wildcats, the Gophers held the Buckeyes to a low field-goal percentage in the first half (Ohio State made only seven of 28 shots from the field over the first 20 minutes) while establishing dominance on the boards. However, turnovers kept the Gophers from building more than a five-point lead at the intermission.

Minnesota scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 31-19 lead before Matta went small, switching to four guards “to get more flow in the offense.” Ohio State, after the 25 percent field-goal shooting in the first half, nearly doubled that in the second half and chipped away at Minnesota’s lead.

Minnesota was still up 47-40 with six-and-a-half minutes to play. It took the Buckeyes fewer than three minutes to erase that margin. Center Terence Dials—who led all scorers with 17 points—converted a three-point play, Ivan Harris connected on a three-pointer, and Dials was then fouled while shooting with 3:46 to go. Following a media timeout, Dials made both free throws to give the Buckeys their first lead, at 48-47, since the early minutes of the game.

The score held until Vincent Grier sank a pair of free throws with 1:23 to go to give the Gophers a one-point lead. However, Sullinger answered at the other end of the court with a baseline jumper to put Ohio State ahead, 50-49, with one minute left.

The Gophers spent nearly 25 seconds trying to find a way to get the ball inside. A miss or a turnover would give the Buckeyes the ball back and perhaps force the Gophers to foul as the shot clock would be off. But, instead, the ricochet of Lawson’s pass to Stamper put the Gophers again, and it was Ohio State, after missing a shot, that had to foul.

After Robinson’s free throw, Ohio State got the ball to midcourt before calling a timeout with 9.3 seconds left. The Gophers had committed only four team fouls to this point, meaning they could foul to disrupt Ohio State’s attempts to work the ball in or get off a shot from the perimeter. After the game, Gophers coach Dan Monson said it was his desire to foul on the first penetration, but his players didn’t follow through.

As for the Buckeyes, Matta said they had several options: looking for Dial in the low post, a three-point shot, or Sullinger on a drive. It was Sullinger who took the ball in the lane, got a good look at the basket, but had his shot bounce off the rim into the hands of J’son Stamper as the game ended.

The win upped Minnesota’s overall record to 17-9 and put them a game over .500 in the Big TEn at 7-6.