Devin Royal’s performance against Minnesota is analogous to his 2025-26 season – it required an adjustment.
Fresh off perhaps his best performance at his new small forward position (with some power forward mixed in) against UCLA, Royal opened the contest 2-of-9 shooting with four turnovers. But in the final five minutes of regulation, with the game swinging in a clock-like rhythm between Ohio State and Minnesota leads, the junior came alive.
Royal finished on a 4-of-5 shooting stretch, collecting nine total points in that last quintet of regulation minutes and the five that followed in overtime to propel the Buckeyes to an important 82-74 victory.