It may not be the same team that won the Big Ten the previous two seasons or appeared in the national championship game last year — two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Zach Edey has since moved on to the NBA — but this version of the Purdue Boilermakers is still plenty formidable.
And so after hanging tough with Purdue for more than half the game, Minnesota could hold on no longer, losing pace in the second half on its way to an 81-61 loss on Thursday night at Williams Arena.
Tied 35-all just a few minutes into the second half, No. 20 Purdue rattled off a 7-0 run and never looked back as the Gophers lost their third straight Big Ten game, all by double digits.
“They beat us down with their execution and that’s something we didn’t do in the second half, so credit to them,” senior Dawson Garcia said.
The Gophers were led by Garcia, who poured in 20 points in the loss. Lu’Cye Patterson added another 14. But Mike Mitchell Jr., who entered the day averaging 13.3 points and had 22 in Minnesota’s last game, finished with just four in the blowout loss. He was 2 for 10 shooting on the day and 0 for 6 in 3-point attempts.
The team’s shooting problems weren’t limited to him. The Gophers struggled for much of the night from beyond the arc (4 for 17) and at the free-throw line (7 for 16).
“In a game like this where everything matters, you don’t want to go away from the line empty-handed,” coach Ben Johnson said.
The Gophers had some pivotal turnovers in the second half that Purdue capitalized on as it pulled away. The Boilermakers scored 16 points off Minnesota turnovers.
“Those guys are too good. They don’t give up those leads. They don’t turn it over,” Johnson said. “They don’t beat themselves. … With the momentum piece, when you have those types of plays, turnovers that lead to dagger points … you can feel it just zap a team and I felt like it just zapped us and we didn’t have the right response.”
With the Gophers “zapped,” Purdue flipped momentum firmly in its direction in the second half, knocking down its threes. The Boilermakers finished with nine in the second half alone. Braden Smith had a team-high five of them for Purdue, finishing the day with 20 points and adding 10 assists. Fletcher Loyer had a game-high 24 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 17.
The loss sends the Gophers, who will next host Ohio State on Monday, to 8-6 on the season and 0-3 in Big Ten play. The team remains winless against ranked opponents under Johnson, who took over the program in 2021.
“We’re 0 and 3 in conference play now. Clearly we’re not doing stuff that’s good enough as a collective unit,” Garcia said. “(We’ve) all just got to look in the mirror individually.”
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