Big Ten play did not get off to the start that Ben Johnson and his Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team would've hoped for on Wednesday. The Gophers opened Big Ten play with a 90-72 loss to the Michigan State Spartans.

A 17-0 run in the first half that saw the Spartans turn a small 14-12 Minnesota lead into a 29-14 lead in favor of Michigan State was ultimately the deciding factor in Wednesday night's matchup at Williams Arena.

After the 17-0 run from the Spartans, the Gophers would never be able to get the deficit back to single digits despite having a quality shooting night as a whole, shooting 44.1% from the field.

Dawson Garcia led all scorers in the game with 18 points but it was not an efficient night for the star forward as he was 5-for-14 from the field including 1-for-8 from three-point range. He also had 11 rebounds in the loss.

Mike Mithcell Jr returned the lineup after missing several weeks of action and was a huge boost to a Gophers offense that was struggling in his absence. He was 6-for-12 from the field including 5-for-9 from three-point range to total 17 points in the game.

Lu'Cye Patterson was the only other Gopher to finish with a double-digit scoring effort with 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

The Gophers, however, did have some struggles once again at the free-throw line on Saturday. They were 11-for-17 from the charity stripe, a 64.7% conversion percentage. While Dawson Garcia and Lu'Cye Patterson were a perfect 11-for-11, Frank Mitchell and Mike Mithcell were a combined 0-for-6.

It was also by far one of the Gophers' worst defensive efforts of the season, allowing Michigan State to make 52.7% of their shots from the field (29-for-55) including 11-for-22 from three-point range. The Gophers also sent Michigan State to the line for 26 free throws in the loss, the Spartans were able to take advantage of those opportunities hitting 21-of-26 attempts.

The Gophers now 6-4 on the season will be off until next Monday when they face off against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT.

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