Although Ohio State is yet to play in a Big Ten game this year, forward Jamison Battle has already experienced the thrill of winning a conference game in Columbus during his rookie campaign with the Buckeyes. This is because Battle played for Minnesota for the previous two seasons. On Sunday, both teams will play their Big Ten openers at Ohio State (6-1). Battle scored 11 points in the Golden Gophers’ most recent visit, which they won 70-67 last season.
The first-ever game against his old team was not as big a deal for the fifth-year transfer. “You obviously have thoughts about that, but it’s just the first Big Ten game of the season, that’s how we’re looking at it,” Battle said on Friday.
He said it’s more important to build on the Buckeyes’ fifth straight win, 88-61 over Central Michigan on Wednesday. “As a team, we’ve got some things we need to improve on from the Central Michigan game and from games prior,” Battle said. “We’re looking forward to opening the Big Ten season at home and playing a pretty solid Minnesota team.”
The Golden Gophers (5-2) are coming off a confidence-boosting 97-64 win against New Orleans on Thursday. Minnesota entered the day averaging nearly 15 turnovers a game, but in the first half had only two in building a 50-32 lead. They finished with 12, mostly from the reserves.
“It was really just keeping things simple,” Minnesota guard Elijah Hawkins said. “Not trying to make the home run play all the time.” Golden Gophers coach Ben Johnson liked that his players didn’t deviate from their fast-paced style as they’ve done in the past when the game didn’t go their way. “They need to be able to fall back on that when these games get tougher,” Johnson said. “There was energy with the ball, but I think it trickled down with everybody.”
Though Battle remains close to many of his former teammates, those friendships will be temporarily suspended. “We’re brothers off the court, but then on the court, we’re rivals,” he said
