Jamison Battle keeps focus on winning, helps lead Ohio State past Minnesota
Hands on his knees, Jamison Battle had a direct line of sight to the hardwood at Value City Arena. To his right, Isaiah Ihnen was the mirror image as Sunday’s opening tip neared.
Seconds later, the ball was tipped, and there Battle was: wearing Ohio State’s white throwback jerseys in a Big Ten opener against the school where he’d spent the prior two seasons. It took only eight games into his lone season with the Buckeyes to draw a rematch with the Golden Gophers. Both before and after the game, Battle was complementary of his former program, the coaches and the players – even Ihnen specifically, who missed the last two seasons with a knee injury.
During Ohio State’s 84-74 win against Minnesota, though, Battle was all business – and it was bad news for the Golden Gophers. The fifth-year forward had eight points before the first media timeout on his way to a season-high 25 points, helping Ohio State both build a 22-point first-half lead and fend off a late Minnesota challenge.
“It’s obviously a little emotional, but for me it was going out there and just playing another game,” he said. “I wanted to win this game, win this first Big Ten game and continue the good start to the season that we’ve had. I know a lot of those (Minnesota) guys. They’re going to compete. We’re brothers off the court, but on the court, it’s a war.”
Leading into the game, Battle told reporters that he wasn't concerned with the emotional part of playing the Gophers. Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said he had considered canceling Battle's scheduled teleconference set for Friday morning so as not to draw any extra attention to the matchup.
Throughout, Battle showed no outward signs of feeling any added strain from playing his hometown university. During pregame warmups, there were no hugs during layup lines or seemingly even any eye contact. When Battle and Ihnen walked onto the court for the opening tip, neither made any visible acknowledgement of the other. The only acknowledgement from either side came when the team’s representatives met at midcourt and Battle, alongside Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, hugged and performed a handshake ritual with Minnesota’s Parker Fox.
Ninety-six seconds into the game, Battle swished a 3-pointer from the top of the circle on his first shot of the game.
“He just had a good look about him,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “I was pleased he got off early there and was able to make some shots.”
It would continue from there with Battle sinking an open 3 from the right corner on the next possession, then drawing a foul and hitting both free throws for a personal 8-0 run. It was part of Ohio State’s 14-2 surge to open the game, and Minnesota got no closer than six points the rest of the way. Battle had a big hand in that, scoring 15 of his 25 points during the second half including a critical 3-pointer with 3:08 to play as the Gophers threatened to make it interesting.
It was a 10-point Ohio State lead when Battle nabbed a rare Dawson Garcia miss with 16.6 seconds to play. As he fouled to stop the clock, Minnesota’s Mike Mitchell Jr., a Pepperdine transfer new to the program this year, grabbed ahold of Battle and knocked him to the floor with bodies strewn everywhere. Lying on his back, Battle looked up as Mitchell offered him a hand.
He reached for Ohio State sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. instead, who helped him to the floor. At the other end, Battle then finished off Ohio State’s scoring with two more free throws.
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“He made shots,” Minnesota coach Ben Johnson said. “Obviously we knew that he’s capable of doing that. He’s one of the couple guys on this team that has a really good percentage from three. He had one early that sparked him and got him going. Anybody that can shoot, you don’t want to give them that confidence early.”
Battle had it early, and when asked about his fast start he answered by credited his Ohio State teammates for always having his back. Holtmann said Battle is continuing to adjust to his new team and starting to lose himself within the concept of the team.
“When you’re a player, one of the greatest lessons to learn is when you lose yourself in your team playing well when you’re out there, you typically play pretty well,” Holtmann said. “It’s a hard thing to get yourself to do, particularly when you’re playing in a game like this one where you want to play well. I thought that was his focus and the result of that was he really did play well.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jamison Battle focuses on win, leads Ohio State past Minnesota
