Ohio State loses 70-67 to Minnesota amid controversial foul call

Ohio State lost 70-67 to Minnesota in heartbreaking fashion but a late and controversial foul call was the subject of the Buckeyes’ loss.

Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton went in for a block on Minnesota’s Ta’lon Cooper, but the shooting foul was called despite it looking like Thorton got all ball, according to the Buckeye home crowd. The win was Minnesota’s first in the Big Ten.

Below is a look at the play, which caused a lot of buzz Thursday night.

Do you agree with this call?

Minnesota and Ohio State are tied 67-67 with 1.7 to go pic.twitter.com/MXXB5ORyZ9

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 13, 2023

“We were unbelievably tough,” Minnesota coach Ben Johnson said on FS1 postgame. “Coach Holtmann is a hell of a coach. We never have success here, ever. We just had to keep showing up. We were playing good. but we weren’t getting the results. But we were playing good basketball. I just wanted my guys to keep the belief.”

Ohio State trailed by just two, 37-35, at halftime but Minnesota edged the Buckeyes in the final 20 minutes and with the game tied 67-67, the controversial foul was called on the floor.

Ohio State dropped to 10-6 (2-3) with the loss while Minnesota improved to 7-8 (1-4) on the season.