MINNEAPOLIS — Gophers standout junior Marcus Carr taking his first shot attempt of the game with 7:22 left in the first half Sunday wasn't the new offensive game plan Richard Pitino had in mind for his basketball team.
The Big Ten's third leading scorer got his teammates involved early Sunday, but Carr eventually just couldn't find many good shots against Ohio State's swarming defense.
Carr's slow start wasn't the worst thing to happen.
The No. 21 Gophers found another go-to guy with 7-footer Liam Robbins scoring 16 of his 27 points in the first half, go along with 14 rebounds and five blocks in a 77-60 against victory against the No. 25 Buckeyes at Williams Arena.
Robbins, a Drake transfer, came two points away from tying his career-high 29 points against Loyola-Chicago last season. He also had a 27-point effort earlier this season against Missouri-Kansas City.
Carr finished with 15 points on 3-for-12 shooting after averaging 22.7 points this season. But the Gophers (10-2, 3-2) lost both games this season when he was shut down against Illinois and Wisconsin on the road.
JEFF WHEELER
Gallery: Gophers men's basketball beats Ohio State
Pitino clearly put an emphasis on ball movement and getting the ball inside often Sunday against the Buckeyes (8-3, 2-3), who were undersized in the middle defending Robbins.
The first basket of the game for Robbins was a three-pointer. But he took advantage of his five-inch height advantage and deep post position on Ohio State's 6-7 center E.J. Liddell the rest of the first half.
After Robbins had seven of his team's first 14 points in the game, the Gophers led 16-5 after Both Gach's three-pointer at the 16-minute mark.
Ohio State came alive offensively to use a 23-11 run to go ahead 28-27 on Liddell's dunk with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.
The Gophers were suddenly in familiar territory after also experiencing a scoring funk in Thursday's 71-59 loss at No. 6 Wisconsin. They shot just 19 percent in the first half against the Badgers, who held Robbins without a field goal in the opening period.
The Drake transfer eventually broke Minnesota's offensive drought Sunday with a basket to retake the lead. The Gophers were clinging to a 31-30 advantage late in the first half when Jamal Mashburn Jr. also gave them a lift with five straight points.
Carr's first field goal of the game came with 46 seconds left in the first half, but it helped Minnesota go into halftime up 43-37.
This was the first time the All-Big Ten preseason guard was held in check at home this season after averaging nearly 25 points in the previous nine games at the Barn.
The Buckeyes weren't going to let Carr beat them like he did twice last season. He had a career-high 35 points in Minnesota's victory at home, but also hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 4 seconds left in the U's win in Columbus.
Entering Sunday, the Gophers were 1-10 in Big Ten play when Carr had three field goals or fewer in a game the last two seasons, which included both losses this season. Pitino's team was determined not to be a one-man show offensively after Carr's season-low 10 points led to another Gophers' road loss.
In the second half, Carr continued to defer to his teammates with Robbins' muscling in a basket off the glass plus the foul to open the period. His old-fashioned three-point play made it 48-39.
Ohio State's Zed Key cut it to 49-43 after a layup with 14:23 remaining, but the Gophers used an 18-7 run to pull away. Carr finally got going with eight straight points at the end of the rally, including his own three-point play for a 67-50 lead at 9:17.
Gabe Kalscheur and Gach also had 13 and 10 points for the Gophers, respectively.
The Gophers, who travel to play at Michigan on Wednesday, held the Buckeyes scoreless from the field in the last 2:06 of the game.
