The Gophers’ baseball team didn’t find much luck in its weekend trip to Iowa City, where it accumulated just two runs in three games. After a series-opening loss, Saturday’s game got rained out to make way for a doubleheader on Sunday. Neither game went well for the Gophers, who were on the wrong side of an 18-0 blowout in the finale.

Sam Ireland’s no-hit bid ends rough on Friday

Starting pitcher Sam Ireland gave the Gophers as good of a start as you could ask for. He was nearly perfect through four innings, having a no-hitter going into the fifth frame. That’s when things turned to the worse for Minnesota, ultimately ending in a 7-1 loss.

Though Ireland wasn’t docked for any earned runs, the Hawkeyes plated six runs in the fifth inning. Ireland finished the inning and pitched a shutout frame in the sixth inning before his day ended. He finished the night with seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits and three walks.

Ireland, unfortunately, was given his third loss of the season, which doesn’t at all speak to the ace’s pitching performance this season. Ireland consistently has given Minnesota a shot to get out in front and set themselves in a position to win.

The opener was similar to the rest of Ireland’s outings. Although Minnesota picked up seven hits across the first five innings, no runners could cross the plate. Over the last four innings, the Gophers picked up just four more hits, including a double from junior Zack Raabe, who later scored for the lone run in the ninth.

Gophers on wrong end of longball Saturday

In the second game of the series, the two teams scored seven runs, and all came off home runs. Minnesota was responsible for just one, while Iowa hit four of its own to take the second game of the series 6-1 on Saturday.

With starting pitcher Jack Liffrig on the bump, the Gophers kept the game competitive through six innings. After Iowa plated the first run on a solo shot in the second, senior Ronald Sweeny got Minnesota right back in the third with a solo shot of his own. That was about it for Minnesota on the offensive end.

Liffrig gave up another solo shot in the third to give Iowa’s one-run lead. He followed that with three straight shutout frames to keep the Hawkeyes in check and Minnesota a chance to come back.

No luck came for the Gophers, and Liffrig gave up his third home run of the game in the seventh, this being a two-run shot, to extend Iowa’s lead, 4-1. Liffrig ended a solid outing after seven innings while allowing just four runs. He gave up nine hits Saturday, struck out one and didn’t allow any free bases on walks.

The Hawkeyes plated two more in the eighth inning to extend their lead to five runs, ultimately the final score.

Gophers blew out in series finale

The final game in the series was over as fast as it started for Minnesota, which found itself in a big hole after just two innings.

At the second end of the doubleheader, Iowa used its momentum from the first game and jumped out right away on the Gophers. A seven-run inning in the first frame started with a 2-RBI single, and the Hawkeyes followed up with four different RBI doubles.

The Gophers needed two pitchers to get through the first inning after coaches removed starting pitcher Trent Schoeberl after allowing five runs. Reliever Nolan Burchill didn’t have any more luck as he escaped the first after allowing two runs. Coaches pulled him after failing to pick up an out in the second while allowing two more runs.

The damage continued to pile up as the Hawkeyes scored three more in the second and were up 12-0 after just two innings. Iowa finished things up by plating a run in the fourth, two in seventh and three in the eighth.

Minnesota didn’t help its cause as the team committed three errors in total and tallied just five hits in the game. The Gophers dropped the series finale 18-0.

Next weekend

Minnesota returns home to host No. 25 Michigan in a three-game series as it looks to end its four-game losing streak.

Senior E.J. Stephens announced on Friday he has transferred to the Gophers’ men’s basketball team.

Time for a new chapter! Gopher nation let’s go get it @GopherMBB @CoachBenJohnson pic.twitter.com/h4SnY9sO05

— Eylijah Stephens (@EJ_Stephens_) April 2, 2021

The 6-foot-3 guard played four seasons for Lafayette but started just 32 games in the four years. After scoring a career-high 12.1 points per game while shooting 42.8% in his junior season, Stephens surpassed both marks his senior year.

Though he only started three games in the 2020-21 season, he averaged 32.4 minutes per game and put up 16.4 points per game. He shot 45.5% from the field, 32.7% from deep and 90.4% from the line. The Gophers gained a reliable shooter in Stephens, who holds a career 44.4% field goal percentage.

Head coach Ben Johnson has now added two guards along with a forward via the transfer portal to his 2021 team.

This is a breaking news report. More information will be added as it becomes available.

Gophers’ men’s basketball freshman forward Martice Mitchell entered the transfer portal Tuesday, Verbal Commits first reported on Twitter.

PORTAL: Minnesota C Martice Mitchell (FR) has entered. https://t.co/d1hT79vim5

— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) March 30, 2021

Mitchell, along with the other recent transfers, doesn’t come as much of a surprise as they mainly came to Minnesota because of ties with former head coach Richard Pitino. Since Pitino’s departure, the Gophers have lost two freshmen, two sophomores, along with two juniors.

In his first season with the team, Mitchell appeared in just seven games with an average of 3.3 minutes per game. The 6-foot-10 forward scored just nine points and grabbed two boards during the regular season.

Mitchell was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and was ranked in the top-five prospects coming out of Illinois.

This is a breaking news report. More information will be added as it becomes available.

The University of Minnesota athletics department hired a new and energetic head coach Monday, who believes the Gophers men’s basketball program is a hidden gem just waiting for a jumpstart. Minnesota native Ben Johnson is excited to be home and ready for the opportunity in front of him as the newly appointed head coach for the Gophers.

“This is a special day for me. I couldn’t be more excited to come home and to be home, and this is home. When you talk about a dream opportunity and a job — this is it, I’ve hit it,” Johnson said at his introductory press conference, which was held in person with a small group of media members — the only non-virtual press conference since the pandemic began.

The state of Minnesota is familiar with Johnson, who has spent much of his time with the Gophers. Johnson transferred to Minnesota after playing two seasons with Northwestern. He finished his playing career as a two-time captain before graduating in 2005. After multiple assistant coaching positions, Johnson returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach under former Gophers head coach Richard Pitino from 2013-18.

When the phone rang about the job at Minnesota and Johnson answered the phone, he didn’t entirely know where the phone call was going to go. Fortunately, Johnson was welcomed with good news and his new life was ready to start.

“Thankfully, Mark [Coyle] and his staff had confidence in me and I’m here today and I couldn’t be more excited,” Johnson said.

Johnson brings a unique element to this Minnesota team, a team that has seen plenty of top in-state recruits defer to other programs. Johnson is touted as an excellent recruiter, he’s a personable guy and he has a mission to turn this program around.

After joining Xavier as an assistant coach in 2018, Johnson helped lead the Musketeers to back-to-back top-30 recruiting classes in 2019 and 2020. Johnson also played a big hand in keeping former Gophers Amir Coffey and Daniel Oturu in state as well as current junior guard Gabe Kalscheur.

“Obviously, first and foremost, is to be able to do a good job within the state,” Johnson said of the importance of recruiting. “You’ve seen, over time, that we have a lot of talented players that understand how to play. We got to do our job, within the state, to keep those guys home.”

The 2022 class features three four-star recruits, including two in the top-100 in the nation, according to 247Sports. Though the upcoming season is Johnson’s primary focus, the upcoming recruiting class has plenty of talent for Johnson to make an early splash.

Johnson has constantly proved his ability to recruit and that it is going to be a top priority in his stint with Minnesota. In fact, Johnson didn’t waste any time in recruiting after receiving the job.

After being asked about when his first recruiting phone call would be, Johnson chuckled and replied, “We’ve already made those.” He said as soon as his plane landed in Minnesota and he got reception, he started making calls.

He knows that recruiting isn’t a one-person job. Even when he was able to keep Coffey, Oturu and Kalscheur in state, he didn’t do it alone. Johnson is going to lean on high school and AAU coaches and make them feel like they are a part of this program and school.

The Gophers have a lot of facilities that Johnson believes are a big plus for trying to bring in talent. Johnson grew up loving Minnesota and watching the Maroon and Gold play in Williams Arena. The atmosphere that the stadium brings in is one of a kind.

“It’s historic. There’s a lot of good players that have played on that court and that it’s special. There’s a lot of magic still in there that we’re going to dig out,” Johnson said of the Barn.

Johnson has already met the team and even quoted Gophers’ football head coach P.J. Fleck when speaking about his players. He knows a change in head coach is never an easy transition. Though some players have already entered the transfer portal, Johnson hopes he is able to keep the rest of the team at Minnesota and even convince those that entered the portal to reconsider.

“I’m gonna steal a line from P.J., ‘They didn’t choose me, I chose them,’” Johnson said. “I’ve been in their position, and it’s tough. Especially when you come off a season where things didn’t go your way.”

University athletics director Mark Coyle is excited about what Johnson can bring to this team and this program. He and his staff took a lot of time and effort into finding the best candidate for Minnesota, and they think Johnson is the right guy for the job.

It also helped Johnson’s case when he showed up for his interview and was able to grab the attention of Coyle and President Joan Gabel.

“First off, he was very smart, he wore a Gopher polo which caught our attention right away, so great move on that side,” Coyle joked. “He laid out a very clear vision that we were going to compete at the highest level. His plan of recruiting the right type of kid, recruiting the in-state kid … He laid that out very clearly.”

Gophers fall 6-1 in pitching duel Friday after 10th inning Illini breakout

Gophers’ starter Sam Ireland had a much better outing than his 2021 debut. Ireland got the action going with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings before running into trouble with the bottom of the lineup. After loading the bases, Ireland worked around the trouble and got out of the jam.

He continued to deal through six innings striking out two and allowing just four hits. With one out, in the seventh inning, Illini catcher Ryan Hampe took a ball to left field to break the scoreless tie.

Ireland finished off his night with a quality start going seven and a third innings, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out three. He walked two, but was able to strand five runners.

“[Ireland] had good fastball command, I thought he had his best slider and changeup mix he’s had since he got here. I was just impressed with his ability to locate three pitches and get out there and execute them,” Gophers head coach John Anderson said.

On the offensive end, Minnesota ran into some issues with Illinois pitcher Andrew Hoffman. Hoffman was dealing in the series opener and sent down nine Gophers while allowing just three hits.

Late into Hoffman’s outing, the Gophers were finally able to get a runner across. First baseman Ronald Sweeny drew a two-out walk and right fielder Jack Kelly singled and drove him around on an error by the shortstop. That was enough to get the Fighting Illini to pull Hoffman and go to their bullpen.

Even with Hoffman out, the Gophers still struggled to get things going on offense for the rest of the night. They finished with just seven hits and one run. Second baseman Zack Raabe accounted for three hits while third baseman Jack Wassel accounted for two.

Pitcher Ryan Duffy replaced Ireland and coasted through the eighth and ninth. Unfortunately, he ran into some trouble in the 10th, which ultimately was the difference in the game. After surrendering just two hits while striking out four, Duffy struggled in the 10th and Illinois pushed five runs across the plate, taking the series opener 6-1.

Gophers drop both in doubleheader Saturday

The Gophers baseball team lost the first of Saturday’s doubleheader 11-8, despite having an early lead.

The offense finally clicked in the first matchup of the doubleheader. Minnesota put up eight runs but failed to hold onto an early lead despite having its ace on the bump. Pitcher J.P. Massey hasn’t got off to a hot start to the 2021 season and ran into some trouble once again.

A two-run cushion in the first inning was quickly erased as Illinois answered with a run in three straight innings to take the lead in the fourth. That would end Massey’s day after Illinois scored three runs on three hits and four walks.

The game broke open in the fifth inning when the Fighting Illini put up six spot to extend their lead to 9-2. From then on, Minnesota was trying to fight its way back into the game.

In the seventh inning, the Gophers put together a rally that included four walks and three hit-by-pitches, and the score got within three. Illinois was able to close out the inning without further damage and took game one.

Game two of the doubleheader wasn’t too favorable for Minnesota, who saw an early deficit continue to grow.

Back-to-back home runs in the second inning gave a 3-0 lead to the Fighting Illini, who didn’t stop there. The Gophers got one back in the third inning, which turned out to be their lone run.

Illinois answered right back to extend its lead to four, which ultimately was increased to six. The Fighting Illini took game two 7-1, in a full nine-inning contest to secure the series win. They dropped Minnesota to 1-6 while getting above .500 themselves.

Gophers win series finale Sunday

The Gophers managed to avoid the sweep on Sunday, beating the Illini 5-3 in the series finale.

The Gophers used their momentum in the field to get their bats going. After scoring two runs or less in five of its first seven games, Minnesota came alive in the series finale. It started in the field with the first of three double-play balls and continued for the next two innings.

Gophers pitcher Jack Liffrig induced three separate double plays in three straight innings. The Gophers used that momentum in the batter’s box and scored in the preceding three half innings. The three-inning stretch was capped by a crooked number inning highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Raabe and Wassel.

“I think that’s been one of our problems so far this year is having long, long innings,” Anderson said. “It’s harder to perform on offense when you’re on your feet that long, so I thought Liffrig did a good job getting us on and off the field. The defense was able to make some good plays, they weren’t on the back of their heels, there was action, and it was quick action.”

Liffrig didn’t have his best outing, but he was picking up outs at the right time. Liffrig was able to avoid any damage in the next four innings after allowing a run in the first inning, though he constantly ran into trouble.

It wasn’t until a two-out, two-strike ball was taken to left-center field for a two-run homer that Liffrig’s night came to an end. Anderson turned to his bullpen for the remainder of the game and they got the job done.

The bullpen picked up the final 10 outs while allowing just four hits and striking out five. Duffy capped it off by striking out the side in the ninth inning to close out the game.

The mid-game offensive spurt was enough to pick up a win in the series finale.

Raabe had an outstanding series, and Illinois finally gave him the respect he deserved. In his final two at-bats, Raabe was intentionally walked in order to keep the damage minimal. In both cases, it worked out for the Fighting Illini, but it was a little too late. Raabe finished with two hits, two RBIs and three walks to lead Minnesota to its second win of the season.

“[Raabe] is a leader. They follow along with him, they learn a lot from him, he’s helped a lot of the younger players. Both him and Jack Wassel have a significant number of at-bats in this league and they’ve been great, both of them. Zack has picked right where he left off last season,” Anderson said.

Minnesota is back in action at US Bank Stadium again next weekend, but will play as the away team when Northwestern comes to town for a three-game series.

After eight seasons at the helm of the Gophers men’s basketball program, head coach Richard Pitino will no longer coach the program, the University’s athletics department announced Monday.

“I recently met with Richard and told him that we were moving in a different direction,” University athletics director Mark Coyle said in a statement. “Richard is a tremendous person and coach, and I want to thank him, Jill and their family for their commitment to Minnesota. We wish them well in their next endeavor.”

Coyle continued to say that he believed new leadership was needed within the program and that they are immediately starting a nationwide search for the next head coach.

Pitino has seen plenty of ups and downs during his tenure, but his biggest struggles in Minnesota have been his inability to recruit within the state as well as winning in conference play. This season, Pitino got the Gophers to an 11-4 start, before losing 10 of their remaining 12 regular season games. The team finished with a 6-14 conference record.

On top of the losing season, the Gophers failed to secure a win in their 10 road games.

Over his eight years, Pitino finished with a winning record in the Big Ten just once in the 2016-17 season, where the team finished 11-7 in conference play. His worst season came in 2015, after a 8-23 overall record including a 2-16 conference record.

This season marked his fourth losing season and second straight while with Minnesota. Signs had been pointing to his departure since it took over 20 minutes for him to jump on a Zoom call with reporters following the team’s loss to Nebraska on Feb. 27.

Pitino had a long talk with the team, but told reporters he wouldn’t get into what was discussed.

“I just told them, ‘Enjoy the process. Enjoy being in college,’” Pitino said. “It’s a weird college experience, obviously, but embrace it, love it. Love the time you have with your teammates; love playing basketball.”

Despite the losing track record, Pitino has also seen a lot of success in Minnesota. Over his time with the Gophers, Pitino saw Minnesota rank as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll in the 2017-18 season. He’s led the team to two NCAA tournament appearances since he replaced Tubby Smith after the 2012-13 season.

Pitino won Big Ten Coach of the Year when he led the Gophers to the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed in 2017. Unable to win a game in the 2017 tournament, Pitino and the Gophers won their first game in the 2019 tournament over Louisville in their second appearance under Pitino.

The athletics department will now begin a coaching search to determine Pitino’s successor as the men’s basketball coach, which Coyle called “an extremely attractive job.”

If one thing has been evident all season for the Gophers’ men’s basketball team, it is that it could not play consistently. In the first half of the season, the Gophers looked like a top-15 team, especially at home. The second half looked like a team that shouldn’t even be in the NIT.

Minnesota started the season with six straight non-conference wins, all coming in Williams Arena. After dropping their first away game of the season, the Gophers got back on track and finished their non-conference schedule undefeated. A Christmas night matchup against then-No. 4 Iowa set the stage for a Big Ten showdown.

In a wild ending, which featured a late comeback and a last-second three from redshirt junior Marcus Carr, Minnesota upset the Hawkeyes in overtime. That was the start to the Gophers ranked wins; they finished with five.

Just three weeks later, the Gophers picked up their second top-10 win when they upset then-No.7 Michigan. All was looking good for Minnesota as it finished up its toughest stretch of the season with an 11-4 record. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the Gophers’ fallout.

A postponement to the Nebraska game left the Gophers with a week-long break before they hosted Maryland. It came at one of the worst times, and after that, the Gophers never looked like themselves again.

A three-game skid followed, including their first home loss, a blowout in West Lafayette and a first-half blown lead to Rutgers. It looked as though Minnesota could shake off the cobwebs in its two preceding games as it handled Nebraska and won a close one against Purdue.

However, those were the last two times the Gophers came out victorious. Still winless on the road, the Gophers dropped two consecutive games by double digits. If that wasn’t enough to deflate the team, Minnesota dropped its next two home games, one to Northwestern’s hands, who ranks second to last in the Big Ten.

Minnesota slowly saw its tournament hopes diminish but still had the chance to show the committee it deserved to stay. Facing off against the worst team in the Big Ten, Minnesota again failed to pick up a road win over Nebraska and gave the Cornhuskers just their second conference win of the season.

A loss to Penn State on the road ripped up any hope that the team and fans had of making the tournament. With one regular season game left and the Big Ten tournament, the season quickly comes to an end.

So what went wrong for Minnesota?

The Gophers are second in the Big Ten in three-pointers attempted with 652 but rank dead last in percentage, hitting at a 28.8% clip. Teams often sag off on defense and allow Minnesota the three-point shot, being fully aware of the team’s woes from behind the arc.

“Guys, I don’t know how smart I am, but if you’re dead last in threes, you should not be first in attempts,” head coach Richard Pitino said at the end of January.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed since then. Minnesota has continued to take the deep shots they’ve been given, and they continue to not fall.

Another issue the Gophers ran into was the injury bug. After playing such a high volume of games in a short amount of time, it was clear the players weren’t at 100% anymore. To make matters worse, junior Gabe Kalscheur jammed his finger and broke his hand on the last play of practice.

Junior Liam Robbins played through an ankle injury for a couple of games before sitting the last three games. Without the Big Ten leader in blocks and a seven-foot presence in the paint for rebounds, the Gophers took a massive hit with two starters out of the lineup.

Redshirt senior Brandon Johnson had been dealing with a finger injury, and just when he started getting back to full health, he re-injured his ankle. Junior Both Gach hasn’t looked like himself for the second half of the season, and it’s in part because of a foot injury.

“We’re down three starters, and our top guard off the bench is hobbled, so I don’t know if that’s an excuse, but that’s significant for the team,” Pitino said. “[Brandon’s] got this ankle that always seems to hurt, and he re-injured it.”

Pitino noted that Kalscheur is most likely out for the season, but he’s hopeful that the rest of the injuries can subside by the Big Ten tournament.

Those injuries have proved to have a significant effect, and not just on the offensive end. Minnesota has been without its second and third-leading scorers in Robbins and Kalscheur, and Johnson is right behind at the fourth spot.

Unfortunately, these losses Minnesota has incurred have also affected the rebounding. Game after game, the Gophers have struggled at boxing out defenders and grabbing defensive boards.

“The rebounding really hurt us. We’re struggling on the perimeter with blockouts; we really miss Gabe there. He was very physical at it,” Pitino said after the loss to Penn State, where Minnesota gave up 17 offensive rebounds.

The rebounding struggles have been consistent in the team’s losses and have played a considerable role. The Gophers used their ability to rebound on the defensive end to their advantage early in the season to get out on fast breaks and catch the defense sleeping. Now, they’re the ones who are often caught sleeping.

“It played a role because they got second chances, pretty much when we needed a stop at that time. It was mainly little mistakes in crucial moments that killed us tonight,” Johnson said after the team’s Feb. 17 loss to Indiana. “The times that we didn’t box out, we shot ourselves in the foot for sure.”

The season looks to be close to over Minnesota as it prepares to face Rutgers on March 6 for its final game of the regular season. The Gophers will go into the Big Ten tournament needing a huge run if they hope to make the NCAA tournament.

“Find a way to turn things around. Every team goes through droughts; every team goes through losing streaks. It’s all about how you bounce back – the response. Some people might think we’re out of it, but at the end of the day, we’re not out of it,” freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. said.

The Gophers’ men’s basketball team had a slow start that set the tempo for the rest of the game. The leaders on the team couldn’t figure out how to get shots to drop, and Minnesota continued its road struggles. Maryland had a comfortable double-digit lead for almost all 40 minutes and ultimately won 72-59.

The Gophers seemed to be back on the right track up until they went back on the road. After back-to-back wins, including a top-25 win against the Boilermakers, Sunday felt all too similar.

In the first meeting between these two, the Terrapins got off to a 17-3 lead, and they almost matched it this time around. Between missed shots from the Gophers and laziness on the defensive side, Maryland jumped out to a 16-3 lead.

“We came out slow, defensive wise, we just weren’t on the same page. They made a lot of tough shots, a lot of wide-open shots,” Gophers junior Gabe Kalscheur said.

Even with the height advantage, the Gophers couldn’t get junior Liam Robbins too involved early. It didn’t help his case as he picked up two fouls early and made his way to the bench for the better part of the first half.

On the defensive side, the Gophers were allowing easy shots both outside and in the paint, and Maryland took advantage of it. They shot 5-of-8 from deep and 58.6% from the field in the first half, and Minnesota was unable to get even close to matching that.

“We were not very good defensively, they were just beating us off the bounce,” Gophers’ head coach Richard Pitino said. “They were just quicker to the basket than we were, and we were not connected defensively at all.”

The Gophers have struggled tremendously on the road shooting the ball and continued that trend in this contest. They made just eight shots total in the first half while shooting 29.6% from the field.

Though the second half featured an improved performance from Minnesota, the first half deficit was too much to overcome. The production was coming from an unconventional group for Minnesota and showed a look into the Gophers’ young guys.

Freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. recently set a career-high with an 11-point performance against Nebraska, and he surpassed that Sunday as he scored a team-high 14 points. Mashburn Jr. was the Gophers best player on offense and a big reason for Minnesota’s comeback.

After trailing by as many as 19, the Gophers went on a run late and were able to cut the lead down to just six points. That was the result of playing better defensively and turning it into a good offensive performance.

“A sense of urgency was there just cause it was late [in the] clock and we had to have a sense of urgency or we were gonna get blown out. That just has to be from the jump, from tip off, just having that sense of urgency for a full 40 minutes,” Mashburn Jr. said.

It was too little too late for Minnesota as its late run came up short and they ultimately lost another road game by double-digits.

“I feel like the offense, in the second half, we picked it up. We were communicating more and I feel like we just need to do that for a full 40 minutes and we could’ve won the game,” Kalscheur said.

Alongside Mashburn Jr., sophomore Isaiah Ihnen had his best game in the maroon and gold. He set his own career-high and finished second on the team with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting including two 3-pointers.

“Isaiah is a great player. Once he has his confidence, and he’s talking to people, and just doing, not thinking. He’s a terrific player… he’s great, we need that every night from him moving forward,” Mashburn Jr. said.

Sophomore Tre’ Williams has jumped into the starting lineup over the past month and also provided double digits in the loss. After scoring just two points in the first half, Williams connected on two deep balls and a pair of free throws to get up to 10 points on the night.

The three underclassmen played very well in the loss and showed what could potentially be the future of the team.

“Those guys stepped up and made some really big plays. We didn’t win, but hopefully that can build some confidence for some of those young guys,” Pitino said.

The Gophers had some internal struggles that they also were dealing with to go alongside the on-court struggles. Robbins was dealing with a sprained ankle throughout the game and was only able to play 18 minutes.

Redshirt senior Brandon Johnson has been dealing with a finger injury and also was on the wrong end of some physical plays in the paint. He got hit in the face twice while trying to box out for rebounds, both resulting in common fouls.

He finished with just five points, ending his double-digit scoring streak, all coming from free throws as he went 0-for-4 from the field.

The final injury Minnesota was dealing with was with junior Both Gach, who was dealing with a foot injury as well and only played four minutes.

The Gophers don’t have much time off to lick their wounds and are right back in action Feb. 17, when they travel to face Indiana.

The Gophers’ men’s basketball team had a slow start that set the tempo for the rest of the game. The leaders on the team couldn’t figure out how to get shots to drop, and Minnesota continued its road struggles. Maryland had a comfortable double-digit lead for almost all 40 minutes and ultimately won 72-59.

The Gophers seemed to be back on the right track up until they went back on the road. After back-to-back wins, including a top-25 win against the Boilermakers, Sunday felt all too similar.

In the first meeting between these two, the Terrapins got off to a 17-3 lead, and they almost matched it this time around. Between missed shots from the Gophers and laziness on the defensive side, Maryland jumped out to a 16-3 lead.

“We came out slow, defensive wise, we just weren’t on the same page. They made a lot of tough shots, a lot of wide-open shots,” Gophers junior Gabe Kalscheur said.

Even with the height advantage, the Gophers couldn’t get junior Liam Robbins too involved early. It didn’t help his case as he picked up two fouls early and made his way to the bench for the better part of the first half.

On the defensive side, the Gophers were allowing easy shots both outside and in the paint, and Maryland took advantage of it. They shot 5-of-8 from deep and 58.6% from the field in the first half, and Minnesota was unable to get even close to matching that.

“We were not very good defensively, they were just beating us off the bounce,” Gophers’ head coach Richard Pitino said. “They were just quicker to the basket than we were, and we were not connected defensively at all.”

The Gophers have struggled tremendously on the road shooting the ball and continued that trend in this contest. They made just eight shots total in the first half while shooting 29.6% from the field.

Though the second half featured an improved performance from Minnesota, the first half deficit was too much to overcome. The production was coming from an unconventional group for Minnesota and showed a look into the Gophers’ young guys.

Freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr. recently set a career-high with an 11-point performance against Nebraska, and he surpassed that Sunday as he scored a team-high 14 points. Mashburn Jr. was the Gophers best player on offense and a big reason for Minnesota’s comeback.

After trailing by as many as 19, the Gophers went on a run late and were able to cut the lead down to just six points. That was the result of playing better defensively and turning it into a good offensive performance.

“A sense of urgency was there just cause it was late [in the] clock and we had to have a sense of urgency or we were gonna get blown out. That just has to be from the jump, from tip off, just having that sense of urgency for a full 40 minutes,” Mashburn Jr. said.

It was too little too late for Minnesota as its late run came up short and they ultimately lost another road game by double-digits.

“I feel like the offense, in the second half, we picked it up. We were communicating more and I feel like we just need to do that for a full 40 minutes and we could’ve won the game,” Kalscheur said.

Alongside Mashburn Jr., sophomore Isaiah Ihnen had his best game in the maroon and gold. He set his own career-high and finished second on the team with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting including two 3-pointers.

“Isaiah is a great player. Once he has his confidence, and he’s talking to people, and just doing, not thinking. He’s a terrific player… he’s great, we need that every night from him moving forward,” Mashburn Jr. said.

Sophomore Tre’ Williams has jumped into the starting lineup over the past month and also provided double digits in the loss. After scoring just two points in the first half, Williams connected on two deep balls and a pair of free throws to get up to 10 points on the night.

The three underclassmen played very well in the loss and showed what could potentially be the future of the team.

“Those guys stepped up and made some really big plays. We didn’t win, but hopefully that can build some confidence for some of those young guys,” Pitino said.

The Gophers had some internal struggles that they also were dealing with to go alongside the on-court struggles. Robbins was dealing with a sprained ankle throughout the game and was only able to play 18 minutes.

Redshirt senior Brandon Johnson has been dealing with a finger injury and also was on the wrong end of some physical plays in the paint. He got hit in the face twice while trying to box out for rebounds, both resulting in common fouls.

He finished with just five points, ending his double-digit scoring streak, all coming from free throws as he went 0-for-4 from the field.

The final injury Minnesota was dealing with was with junior Both Gach, who was dealing with a foot injury as well and only played four minutes.

The Gophers don’t have much time off to lick their wounds and are right back in action Feb. 17, when they travel to face Indiana.

The Gophers men’s basketball team had the perfect matchup to get out of its funk and back to playing how the team was before its first matchup with the Cornhuskers was postponed. That was true for about 20 minutes of the game. Ultimately, they found themselves back in the win column after dropping the previous three and falling out of the AP top-25.

If at first you don’t succeed at something, you should keep trying, right? That maybe shouldn’t be the case for the Gophers and shooting threes. Coming into the game, Minnesota ranked dead last in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage at 30% while attempting the third-most shots.

Minnesota kept consistent and fired up 36 three-point shots and couldn’t get much to drop. Even when Nebraska played zone and pretty much gave Minnesota open deep balls, nothing changed and Minnesota saw its once 19-point lead slowly dwindle away.

When Minnesota finally got back to the basics, driving the ball and getting paint touches, it finished the game on a high note and a dominant win.

If you didn’t watch the opening possession, you probably wouldn’t believe that it started out with a Gophers made three. That played a part in Minnesota getting a little trigger happy and firing up 18 three-pointers in the first half. Only five of them found the bottom of the net, with two coming from redshirt senior Brandon Johnson out of the corner.

“I just had to get in the flow of the game,” Johnson said on hitting his second and third three since Christmas Day. “Today it really came in the flow of the offense, so I just gotta keep just focusing on getting my touches and my shots in the flow of the offense.”

There wasn’t much else going against Minnesota in the first half. Points were coming from all over the place, as eight different Gophers found the scorers sheet in the first half. Johnson led all scorers with 10 points, followed by redshirt junior Marcus Carr who had eight, in large part, because he played just nine minutes.

That was another issue the Gophers ran into in the first half, as both Carr and junior Liam Robbins were limited in playing time due to each picking up three fouls. With both the team’s leading scorers dealing with foul trouble, it opened up the game for Johnson to take a hold of. He finished with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, seven of them coming on the offensive glass.

“[Johnson] was terrific, he saved us. I didn’t even sub him out in the second half, just because I thought that we needed him,” Gophers’ head coach Richard Pitino said. “Playing through a finger injury, as well, so showing great toughness, he got us some extra possessions. He was huge.”

When Carr was on the court, he was getting involved in almost every Gopher basket. Along with his eight points, Carr assisted on five other Gopher baskets, leading the team to nine first-half assists.

The Gophers and Cornhuskers both were having their way on the offensive glass. The difference was that Minnesota was able to turn those second chances into points.

Nebraska had eight offensive rebounds, but only scored four points while the Gophers had seven that led to nine points. Minnesota held Nebraska to just three offensive boards in the second, while grabbing nine of its own.

“The physicality, just blocking out,” Pitino said on the difference in the second half. “We got to hit bodies, there’s no team that’s more physical than the team we’re about to play [Purdue]. I thought we took a major step forward versus Rutgers, and we better hit a body every single time versus Purdue.”

The second half wasn’t too friendly to Minnesota as a 19-point lead turned into a nine-point lead. The Gophers went on a five minute and 10-second scoring drought where they shot 0-of-14 over the span. It finally ended as Johnson hit the first of his two free throw attempts.

Without Carr and Robbins on the court due to foul trouble, the Gophers were trying to shoot themselves into a larger lead. Long story short, it didn’t work. A team that doesn’t shoot the three well decided that was the only shot they’d take in the second half.

That led to shooting 3-of-18 from deep in the second half, as Minnesota tried to break the Nebraska zone. Once Carr and Robbins got back on the court, the offense ran a lot smoother and the lead began to rise.

Carr was the lone Gopher to actually find success in the second half. After dealing with foul trouble the entire game, Carr was able to score 13 second-half points and extend the Gophers’ lead back to double-digits. He finished the night with 21 points and eight assists to lead Minnesota to a win.

“I definitely wanted to come out here today and not take this one lightly and not take it for granted. It’s the Big Ten, at the end of the day, everybody can play, and [I] just wanted to get back on track, and erase these past three games,” Carr said.

After another good first half from freshman Jamal Mashburn Jr., he was able to set a career-high in points. He scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting in the first, but then needed 10 shots in the second to get to 11 points on the night.

Junior Gabe Kalscheur was another Gopher who struggled to see a shot go in. This isn’t new for the junior, as he’s struggled all year, but tonight felt worse than the rest. He scored 10 points, but went 1-of-9 from deep and 3-of-13 from the field.

The Gophers will be right back into action when they host Purdue Feb. 11 and try to build on Monday’s win.

“It’s always huge when you can get a good, quality win on your home court. Going into Thursday playing Purdue, again, we definitely have some unfinished business,” Carr said. “We’re gonna continue to practice and prepare for Purdue.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Gabe Kalscheur’s total points scored.