The Gophers men’s basketball team remembers what Jamison Battle did in the Buckeyes’ 84-74 win over Minnesota on Dec. 3.

Sure, the Robbinsdale, Minn., native scored 25 points with four 3-pointers that weekend in Columbus, Ohio, but it was more so the way he went about it.

Battle stared down the Gophers bench after hitting one of those treys and trash-talked after his first one.

Gophers guard Mike Mitchell Jr. wasn’t a teammate of Battle’s at Minnesota last season, but the Pepperdine transfer was asked if those antics were a topic of conversation inside the U locker room.

“Yeah, for sure, it was mentioned,” Mitchell replied Wednesday. “I’m not going to comment about that though. We’ll see when the game comes.”

Battle’s return to Williams Arena is a major plot point when the Buckeyes (15-11, 5-10 Big Ten) play the Gophers (16-9, 7-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Battle, a fifth-year player who began his college career at George Washington, entered the NCAA transfer portal last spring after two seasons with the Gophers. The DeLaSalle High School graduate is averaging 13.9 points per game with Ohio State this season, and his scoring total against the Gophers is his season high. He was certainly amped to play against the U.

Gophers head coach Ben Johnson took issue with how open Battle was for a trey from the top of the key within the first two minutes of the game at Valley City Arena. Battle appeared to say “all day” after he made it.

“You can’t give a guy like him, especially early in the game, a clean look at the hoop like that,” Johnson said Wednesday. “He capitalized on it and it carried him for the rest of the game.”

Battle wasn’t the only player to hurt the Gophers: Bruce Thornton poured in 26 and Roddy Gayle added 16 in that Dec. 3 game.

That game was 11 weeks ago, and the Gophers feel like their defense has improved since then.

The Buckeyes have changed since then, too. Ohio State fired coach Chris Holtmann last week and interim coach Jake Diebler led them to a big upset of then-No. 2 Purdue on Sunday.

“They are a different team than they were back then, but I also think we are a different team than we were back then,” Johnson said. “It’s good to now see, what kind of jump did we take? We will see that and get that tested (Thursday).”

How many points Battle produces — and what kind of showmanship and possible fan reaction comes with it — will be interesting to see.

Related Articles

Gophers men’s basketball in the NCAA Tournament? It would take an epic hot streak.

Gophers turn it on in second half of a 81-70 win over Rutgers

Gophers guard Cam Christie contending for Big Ten freshman of the year

Gophers push second-ranked Purdue but fall 84-76

‘Hurting’ Gophers men’s basketball team looks to rebound from painful loss at Iowa