Gophers versus Northwestern on Tuesday essentially served as a play-in game for the Big Ten Conference men’s basketball tournament.
With only three regular-season games left, Minnesota needed to beat the Wildcats and help avoid finishing in the bottom three teams, which will be excluded from the conference tourney in mid-March.
The Gophers weren’t desperate enough in their most-winnable game down the stretch and lost 75-63 at Williams Arena.
The Gophers (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten) fell to 2-7 in Big Ten home games this season and will be underdogs against Nebraska, Wisconsin and likely at Rutgers to end the regular season.
A week ago, Minnesota was coming off wins over Southern California and UCLA. With how condensed the standings were, it looked possible for the U to not only make the 15-team tournament field but possible get a bye. Then they lost to last-place Penn State and the Wildcats.
Northwestern (15-13, 6-11) is going in the opposite direction, with two wins in a row, including a 70-49 beatdown of Ohio State on Thursday.
Northwestern is a heavy screening team, and Minnesota didn’t fight enough to go through and around the picks in the first half. The second half started the same way.
On the first defensive possession, Lu’Cye Patterson didn’t make it through two screens, giving Jordan Clayton space to knock down a 3-pointer.
The Wildcats’ best player, Nick Martinelli, extended his lead over Dawson Garcia in a battle (with others) for the Big Ten scoring title.
Martinelli, who is putting up 19.7 per contest, finished with 29 points. The junior forward had two 3-point plays to help keep the lead in the double digits midway though the second half.
Garcia, who is averaging 19.4 per game, put up 26 on 3 of 7 shooting behind the arc. His teammates were a combined 2 for 11 from deep.
The Wildcats have also overcome serious injuries, with two key players being lost to season-ending injuries in the past three weeks: second-leading scorer Brooks Barnhizer (knee) and third-leading scorer Jalen Leach (knee).
The Gophers’ start on Tuesday was ugly, with three turnovers in their opening four possessions. Northwestern capitalized with a 10-0 burst in the first two-plus minutes.
Minnesota used an 8-0 run to help eventually tie the game 21-21. Garcia hit two 3-pointers to bring the U back.
But it was Northwestern’s 3-point shooting — three more makes than the U in the opening 20 minutes, contributing to a 36-31 halftime lead.
Related Articles
Nine reasons to appreciate Gophers star Dawson Garcia as his college career winds down
Men’s basketball: Gophers can’t rally out of another hole in loss to Penn State
Amid bounce back, Gophers men’s basketball back to us-against-the-world mentality
Gophers’ resurgence takes heat off head coach Ben Johnson’s seat
Gophers sweep California teams with comeback win at UCLA
Leave a Reply