Three takeaways from Gophers narrow loss to Indiana
Ben Johnson’s program on Wednesday night gave Big Ten foe Indiana all they could handle but ultimately, the Gophers came up short falling 61-57 to the Hoosiers.
It’s the Gophers fourth consecutive loss, dropping their overall record to 7-12 on the season including 1-8 in Big Ten play.
It was a game dominated by Indiana star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis who TGR highlighted in our preview of the game. Jackson-Davis contributed 25 points and 21 rebounds in game for Indiana, and had the ultimate game winning basketball in the final minute of the game to seal the win for Indiana.
Jamison Battle single handedly kept the Gophers in the game
If it wasn’t for Jamison Battle, Minnesota likely would’ve been blown out on Wednesday night. The junior forward scored 20 points to go along with five rebounds in the losing effort.
The only player for the Gophers to get hot in the game, the Robbinsdale (MN) native was 8-for-16 from the floor including 4-for-9 from deep. It’s a second straight strong effort from Battle after posting 14 points and five rebounds against Michigan on Sunday.
If Battle can continue this level of play, the Gophers should be able to be a formidable opponent upon getting healthy.
Injuries, lack of depth proves to be a difference maker
It was a rough night on the injury front for the Gophers with star forward Dawson Garcia out with an injury on top of Pharrell Payne, Brayden Carrington, and Parker Fox all being out of action as well.
With the injuries stacking up, the Gophers had limited depth for the Big Ten matchup with just Jaden Henley and Will Ramberg coming off the bench. Indiana, on the other hand, had four players come off the bench.
With the injuries, the Gophers simply don’t have a deep enough roster this season to make up for any poor performances. It’s safe to say, Wednesday was one of those nights with Battle being the lone expedition.
An ugly night shooting
Calling the Gophers shooting performance ugly might be an understatement.
As a team, the Gophers made just 22-of-64 shots from the floor, a shooting percentage of 34.4%. They also shot just a mere 5-for-25 from three point range, outside of Battle’s 4-for-9 effort from deep, the Gophers were just 1-16.
Free throws also ultimately made a difference in the game, the Gophers made eight of 14 attempts from the charity stripe.
One of the worst teams offensively this season in the country, the Gophers need to hope their shots begin to sink or it could be a long last full month of the regular season for them.
Next up…
Minnesota will return to action on Saturday against the Northwestern Wildcats who will enter the game with a 14-5 record and winners of three of their last five.
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