CHICAGO, Ill. – D’Angelo Russell scored 23 points, Shannon Scott had 21 and Ohio State beat Minnesota 79-73 in the Big Ten tournament on Thursday night.
The Buckeyes play No. 3 seed Michigan State in the quarterfinals Friday night (approx. 9:30 p.m./BTN).
Russell also had five rebounds and four assists as the sixth-seeded Buckeyes (23-9) bounced back from Sunday’s 72-48 loss to No. 6 Wisconsin in the season finale. Marc Loving scored 12 points, and Sam Thompson finished with nine points and seven rebounds in his return to his hometown.
Thad Matta became the winningest coach in Ohio State history, recording his 298th win since he moved to Columbus, passing Fred Taylor for the top spot on the school list. It was also Matta’s 400th career victory.
DeAndre Mathieu scored 16 points for 11th-seeded Minnesota (18-15), and Andre Hollins scored 13. Carlos Morris added 12 points.