Losing four of their last five as they head into the Big Ten Tourney is not ideal
The Gophers won back-to-back games in late February over Rutgers and Ohio State. Both games were double-digit victories and it was looking like Ben Johnson’s team was in contention to push for that double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and maybe even (with a little luck) get themselves into the NCAA bubble conversation.
Since that Ohio State win, they have lost 4 of their last 5 and are not playing their best basketball. They lost by 18 at Nebraska, a personal hell for Gopher basketball. Then a trip to Illinois was unexpectedly competitive, but still a loss to end the month of February.
March began with a come-back win over Penn State that wasn’t pretty but a win nonetheless. This put the team at 9-9 in the Big Ten with 2 games remaining, one at home against Indiana and then a trip to Northwestern to end the regular season.
The Hoosiers game
This mid-week game gave us a listless and flat Gopher squad who were playing without Braeden Carrington again.
The Gophers trailed only by 5 at halftime but were shooting 2/12 from three and had 8 turnovers. The poor shooting was not just a bad shooting night, but it was a function of poor offensive execution that led to casting up contested and off-balance threes.
The second half was not much better as the Hoosiers pulled away. Cam Christie and Mike Mitchell were both 2/9 from three, Elijah Hawkins was 0/5 and the team finished 5/26. The big men were hesitant to shoot, looking to pass as soon as they had the ball in the post, and the team generally did all of the little things wrong to lose this game. Defensive rebounding was statistically the worst it has been all season, it was the 2nd highest turnover percentage of the season and the Hoosiers had no problems scoring within their offense.
The lone bright spot was Parker Fox who was playing with passion, hustle and appeared to be single-handedly keeping the Williams Arena crowd engaged. In his final game at The Barn, Fox finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds.
It was a 70-58 loss to an Indiana squad that has now won 4 straight and is surging into the Big Ten Tournament.
The Northwestern game
The final game of the season came on the road against Northwestern, a team that I feel the Gophers match up with.
But this game was never competitive. Early in the game, the Wildcats went on a 13-2 run and the Gophers never really made it close, losing 90-66.
The team was much better from three, shooting 7/16, and Dawson Garcia scored 30 points. But Northwestern had 23 assists on their 34 made baskets and the Gopher defense had no inkling of making things hard for them on offense.
The Big Ten Tournament
So what comes next? Obviously, it is the Big Ten Tournament, being played in Minneapolis. Can the Gophers make a run, upset some teams and have some fun this weekend? It is entirely possible, but things are going to have to be fixed, especially on the defensive end.
Perhaps it is because of the shortened bench, but the Gopher defense has been rather weak lately. Josh Ola-Joseph has been left on the bench, seeing his minutes drop dramatically and Braeden Carrington has been dealing with a concussion, both leaving our bench incredibly short and relying on our starters to play 38-40 minutes.
Carrington is back for the tournament, providing valuable minutes to the backcourt and improving that overall team defense. I’ll be surprised to see Ola-Joseph get significant minutes this week, but maybe he’ll get a chance and play well enough to stay on the floor.
First up is a matchup with Michigan State who the Gophers split with during the regular season. A win on Thursday afternoon would move them along to face top-seeded Purdue.
What is at stake? The Gophers are dangerously on the bubble…of the NIT. Beating Michigan State would likely secure them one of the 32 spots into the NIT, a loss might end their season. If they happen to get that win over Sparty, then they would need to run the table, and win the Big Ten Tournament to get themselves an NCAA automatic bid.
Likely? Nope. Possible? Sure.
More to come on the Big Ten Tournament as the Gophers prepare and try to get things back on track.