Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson called out his team’s high turnover rate and poor shots early in the shot clock after the blowout loss to San Francisco last Sunday.

Recent history repeated itself this Sunday.

Minnesota — averaging a Big Ten-worst 14.3 turnovers per game — had 13 giveaways in an 84-74 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten opener on Sunday night at Value Center Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Last January, Minnesota beat Ohio State 70-67  — one of only two Big Ten wins a season ago. The U’s miscues Sunday, including nine first-half turnovers, put the team in a 42-20 hole, but it battled back in the second half.

Minnesota (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) will look for its first conference win Wednesday against Nebraska. Ohio State (7-1, 1-0) has won six straight.

Jamison Battle, who transferred out of Minnesota after last season, had 25 points, including four 3-pointers. After the DeLaSalle graduate hit a trey in the final minutes, he stared down the U bench while holding up three fingers.

Dawson Garcia set a new career high with 36 points on Sunday, besting his previous mark of 28 points set in the win in Columbus last January. Garcia often had success head-to-head against Battle.

The best example of the Gophers’ costly turnovers came with eight minutes left in the second half. Pharrel Payne couldn’t catch Elijah Hawkins’ pass into the paint, and it led to a fast break and a Battle dunk at the other end.

The Gophers had three turnovers on their opening five possessions as the Buckeyes went on an 11-0 run to open up a 14-2 run in the first five minutes of the game. Battle was hot early with a pair of 3-pointers to help stake the lead.

Minnesota had two spurts, but the Buckeyes continued to capitalize off the U’s turnovers and poor shot selection with another 11-0 run to make it 30-12.

The U’s second strong stretch shrank a 42-20 lead to 42-28 at the half. Minnesota had nine turnovers in the first half, which led to 11 points for the Buckeyes.

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