After starting the game off hot, the Gophers became colder than a polar bear's toenail. After getting an 18-10 lead in the first half, they got outscored 30-11 the rest of the period to go into the half down 40-29.

At the half, Illinois led in points in the paint 22-2 and in fastbreak points 11-0.

As the game wore on, the Gophers stopped looking for solutions and just started letting the clock run out and Illinois run the score up. Minnesota falls to 0-1 in Big Ten play with a 92-65 loss to the Illini.

Liam Robbins foul trouble resulted in a career day for Kofi Cockburn. The sophomore finished the game with a career high 33 points on 12-15 shooting and 9-15 from the line while grabbing 13 rebounds for the dominant double-double

The Gophers shot 19-69 from the floor (27.5%) and 7-28 from three (25%).

There is plenty of time to turn things around, and hey, the Gophers are still 6-1. But they're heading into a gauntlet of games that could make them scratch and claw to even compete. It's going to be a grind for the Gophers to start Big Ten play

TGR gives their three main takeaways on a night that the list could be as long as you care to talk about it:

A night that started with an undefeated Gopher team and high hopes saw those hopes crash to the ground and made fans wonder how good this team can really be. The root of that thought comes from the lack of ball-reversals, constant ball-screen and iso basketball the Gophers continued to go to.

The phrase, if it's not broke don't fix it is a great one, but do you know what you should do when something is broke? Fix it. Before the season, coach Pitino said he shortened up the playbook due to the pandemic but tonight looked like there wasn't even a playbook.

The first post touch I can recall Liam Robbins getting was halfway through the second half and he got fouled. They went right back to him and he finished with a foul. Minnesota went to him more in the second half, and that was the most success they had on offense.

Far too often it was just the Marcus Carr show, and the main event on the agenda was the air being pounded out of the ball while Ayo Dosunmu and the Illinois defense swarmed and made his life hell.

This type of offense isn't conducive to winning in the Big Ten. Carr, Gach, and Robbins are too good of players to have this type of performance again. Plenty of time to improve, but the Gophers showing against their first real competition is a real call for concern.

The shooting woes of Gabe Kalscheur continued. He finished 3-8 from the field and 1-4 downtown. He's a good defender, but what he's bringing to the offensive end of the floor is not worthy of a starting spot in the lineup right now.

Tre Williams is a big body who can defend, and as of right now, he's a much better shooter than Kalscheur. Jamal Mashburn Jr. has shown flashes of being a good guard in the Big Ten, and his potential could be worth giving him more time.

Maybe it's time to give him a clear conscious and take some of the pressure of being a starter off his shoulders. Give him a chance to come into the game after observing from the bench for a few minutes. We've seen him be a great shooter, it can come back. Give him a reset. Switch things up.

I get the defensive argument, but he is a spot-up shooter that can't spot-up shoot right now. He can't create better than Williams or Mashburn Jr. off the dribble, and I don't think a guy like Williams is that much of a downgrade on the defensive end. I would really like to see something new from that position against St. Louis.

Liam Robbins' issue has not been producing on the glass, protecting the rim, or in the scoring column. It's been staying on the floor and not fouling. Tonight he had another one of those nights, and against Kofi Cockburn, that's not going to end well.

Robbins played just five first half minutes after picking up two fouls early on. That's when the Illinois run started and Minnesota's one time lead became an old wise tale. In the second half, Robbins played 11 more minutes before fouling out.

He ended the game with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and a block. He can be a serious Big Ten center. He just can't stay on the court.

Both Gach came into the game averaging 15-5-5 and left the game with all of those averages less than they began at. The Utah transfer and Minnesota native scored 1 point on 0-9 shooting from the field along with 3 boards and 2 assists.

His layups in transition were all long and looked like he came in a bit hot and out of control. The floaters and runners that usually hit at a respectable clip were all short. HE just seemed out of sync from the start of the game to the finish.

Coming off missing a game with an ankle injury, Brandon Johnson returned to play 19 minutes for the Gophers. In that stretch of time he was 1-8 shooting, 0-2 from deep, and knocked down 6-7 free throws to end the day with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

All three were apart of a heralded spring recruiting class and are expected to be major contributors for the Gophers. They've all shown flashes that they can do that, but the lack of playing time together is clear. There was not much cohesion on either end of the floor.