Minnesota falls on hardwood, but reigns on ice to split Super Saturday

(Photo by Jason Schott/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Schott (@JESchott19)

NEW YORK -- The Big Ten Conference held its third annual Super Saturday basketball-hockey doubleheader inside Madison Square Garden, with Minnesota serving as the de facto host for both contests.

The Golden Gophers basketball team fell to Ohio State in afternoon, while their hockey squad was victorious to cap off the evening.

Basketball: Ohio State 67, Minnesota 49

Ohio State used a 17-0 run late in the first half to jump out to a 34-22 lead late in the first half and never looked back in their romp over Minnesota. The Buckeyes remained unbeaten in the Big Ten at 8-0, tied for first in the conference with Purdue, who is also 8-0. Ohio State, coached by former Butler mentor Chris Holtmann, is now 17-4 overall on the season.

Keita Bates-Diop led the Buckeyes with 17 points and 12 rebounds to give him a double-double on the afternoon. Kaleb Wesson finished with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, with 11 of those points coming in the first half, with eight rebounds, a steal, and an assist. CJ Jackson finished with 11 points, all of which came in the first half, on 4-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 behind the arc, six rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

Minnesota was held to 38.3 percent from the field, or 18-for-47 shooting. They shot 3-for-14 from behind the arc. Jordan Murphy led the Golden Gophers with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Nate Mason and Amir Coffey had 11 points apiece, and Mason just missed a double-double as he notched nine rebounds. Dupree McBrayer finished with 10 points.

(Photo by Jason Schott/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Hockey: Minnesota 2, Michigan State 1

Minnesota, the 13th-ranked hockey team in the nation, knocked off Michigan State with a late goal from Brent Gates with 3:29 left in the third period. Gates was stationed at the top of the crease and was waiting for a rolling puck to get past a sliding Michigan State defender Butrus Ghafari, and it did. When it got to Gates, he buried it to give the Golden Gophers the 2-1 lead. Gates got an assist on Minnesota's other goal by Casey Mittelstadt with 8:37 left in the first period that gave them a 1-0 edge. They would hold that lead until the third period, when Cody Milan tied it up for the Spartans on a feed from Jerad Rosburg and Jake Smith.

Minnesota, in fifth place in the Big Ten, improved to 6-9-1-1, with 19 points in conference play, and 15-12-1, 29 points, overall. Michigan State, in seventh place, which is last place in Big Ten hockey, with a record of 3-12-1-1, 15 points, and 9-16-1, 25 points, overall.