MINNEAPOLIS — Elliott Eliason had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Minnesota muscle past 11th-ranked Ohio State for a 63-53 victory Thursday night that stuck the Buckeyes with their third straight loss.DeAndre Mathieu had 13 points, five assists and three steals for the Golden Gophers (14-4, 3-2 Big Ten), who gave new coach Richard Pitino his first signature win. They did it by backing down the Buckeyes and owning the area around the basket, posting a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint and a 39-24 rebounding edge.LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points for the Buckeyes (15-3, 2-3), who are on a three-game losing streak for the first time in almost four years. The other four Ohio State starters combined for only 19 points, and the conference’s second-worst free throw shooting team went 11 for 18 from the foul line.Minnesota beat Ohio State for the first time in seven meetings, a feat last accomplished here in 2010.Against a Gophers team that leads the Big Ten in steals, the Buckeyes took better care of the ball after totaling 38 turnovers over the previous two games, but their struggles getting shots to go down was too much to overcome.They lost last week at Michigan State and then at home to Iowa, hardly blemishes on their record, but they’re going to have to snap out of this slide soon to keep up in the top-heavy Big Ten.