COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- When push came to shove, Ohio State was slightly better at pushing and shoving.

Michael Redd scored 25 points and Scoonie Penn added 20, including four free throws in the final 21.4 seconds, as Ohio State (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) held off Minnesota 71-63 Sunday.

	Minnesota's Joe Przybilla (50) gets one of his seven blocks, this one against Ken Johnson.

"This game was not for the weak," Buckeyes coach Jim O'Brien said.

Every shot was contested and on many trips down the court, at least one player ended up on the floor.

"It was physical. No doubt it was physical," O'Brien said, shaking his head. "They let guys play around the basket. That's why you tell players all the time that they have to adjust to how the game's being called. If they're calling hand checks, you have to be careful. And if they're not calling fouls, you have to be as aggressive as the other team."

The Buckeyes (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten), last in the conference in foul shooting last season, made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 5½ minutes and outscored the Golden Gophers 14-5 at the line.

Penn celebrated his 23rd birthday by hitting all six of his free throws. In the Buckeyes' previous game, an 80-77 loss at Illinois on Thursday night, Penn made 1 of 6 free throws.

"I never have had a 1-for-6 game like I had Thursday," he said. "I shot a lot in practice. I wanted to have the opportunity to shoot foul shots when it counted."

Minnesota (9-3, 1-1) pulled to 57-56 on Terrance Simmons' fast-break layup with 4:24 left before Penn made two free throws and Ken Johnson was credited with a field goal when Joel Przybilla was called for goaltending.

Penn then made a 3-pointer at the 3:09 mark to push the lead to 64-56.

But the Golden Gophers used a 5-0 run to draw to 66-63 on a free throw by Przybilla with 40.8 seconds left.

Ohio State ran time off the clock before Penn was fouled with 21.4 seconds left and made both shots.

After Mitch Ohnstad missed a 3-pointer for Minnesota, Penn rebounded, was fouled and again hit both attempts.

"We made a lot of mistakes against a veteran team like Ohio State," said Minnesota coach Dan Monson, who doesn't have a senior on his roster. "They made a lot of experienced plays down the stretch and we made a lot of inexperienced plays."

George Reese added 14 points for the Buckeyes. Johnson, leading the Big Ten in blocks with five a game, blocked seven including four in a four-minute span in the second half.

Przybilla had 14 rebounds and seven blocks to go with his 15 points. Ohnstad had 12 points and Simmons 11.

A year ago, Ohio State had beaten the Gophers 89-60 at Value City Arena.

The Buckeyes' biggest lead in the second half was 50-43 with just more than nine minutes left, but Minnesota scored 11 of the next 17 points to get back in the game.

There were extremes for both teams in the opening half. Minnesota went on a 13-5 run to build a 24-16 lead while holding Ohio State to two field goals in 4½ minutes.

The Buckeyes then went on a 14-0 run -- the Gophers missing their first two field-goal attempts and turning the ball over on seven consecutive possessions without getting off a shot.

Shane Schilling's 3-pointer and a twisting, spinning layup by Simmons with three seconds left gave Minnesota a 33-32 lead at the break despite 10 turnovers and 42 percent shooting. The Gophers came in leading the Big Ten in shooting at 50 percent.

The Gophers finished with 20 turnovers (to Ohio State's 11) and shot 40 percent from the field to the Buckeyes' 39 percent.

"It was a very difficult game to play, a very competitive game," O'Brien said. "What I said to them is that this is the kind of game we're going to see night after night. There are no nights off in the Big Ten."