The Barnyard student section lightly booed former Gopher wing Jamison Battle when he was introduced in the Ohio State starting lineup at Williams Arena on Thursday.

It turned out, they were just warming up their vocal cords.

With the rest of The Barn crowd joining in, Battle was booed relentlessly every time he touched the ball to start the game, with students mixing in a few explicit chants to try to twist the knife.

Despite the soundtrack, Battle scored well in the first half but faded in the second as the Gophers didn’t trail in an 88-79 win over the Buckeyes.

The Gophers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) have won two straight home games before going on the road for a pair. Thursday’s win was a Quad 2 victory, which won’t do much to move their NET ranking nor affect their outside-looking-in position for the NCAA tournament.

The Buckeyes (15-12, 5-11) have a 16-game road losing streak, which is tied for the longest in school history dating back to 1996-98 seasons.

Point guard Elijah Hawkins led Minnesota with a career-high 24 points, while Dawson Garcia contributed 20 and Pharrel Payne 15.

Battle finished with 21 points, while Bruce Thornton led the Buckeyes with 25.

The Gophers created separation midway through the second half with an 8-0 run — which included a Battle turnover and missed 3-pointer — to make it 65-50.

Battle heard boos yet again in the last minute but wouldn’t go away, hitting a 3-pointer to make it 86-79 with 18 seconds left.

Gophers fans gave some positive reinforcement later in the second half in appreciation of Parker Fox. The reserve had contributed key buckets, free-throw rebounds and a steal, so when he subbed out fans showed their appreciation. One even bowed down to the Mahtomedi native.

But when it came to Battle, he started it. When he scored 25 points in the Buckeyes’ 84-74 win over the U in Columbus on Dec. 3, the Robbinsdale native, who transferred from the U after last season, let the Gophers know he was having a big game with trash talk and stare-downs of his former team.

Battle led all scorers with 13 first-half points, making all three of his 3-point attempts. When he hit his third one to tie the game at 30-30, the crowd was silent.

In the handshake line, Gophers players gave some light hugs to Battle, and Fox added a special handshake to his fellow Minnesotan.

The Gophers led 42-34 at the half, with a six-point edge in points in the paint. Garcia had 12 points and six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, while Payne had 10 points and three boards.

The Buckeyes fired head coach Chris Holtmann last week, but under interim head coach Jake Diebler they pulled off a shocking 73-69 upset of then-No. 2 Purdue at home on Sunday.

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