The Minnesota Golden Gophers closed the season with a 66-49 loss against the Wisconsin Badgers. Nate Mason led the Gophers with 17 points and Amir Coffey added 13. Minnesota finished with 11 regular season Big Ten wins and their eight-game winning streak was snapped. The Gophers haven’t won at the Kohl Center against Wisconsin in 9 years. The loss means Minnesota will play at 1:30 p.m. CT on Friday at the Big Ten Tournament in Washington, D.C.
The Rundown
The Gophers started the game trailing, but an 8-0 run, fueled by a smooth finish at the rim by Amir Coffey put Minnesota up 14-8 early. The Gophers couldn’t take advantage of a Wisconsin team that was shooting 5-for-18 from the floor, including 1-for-5 behind the arch. It allowed Wisconsin to climb back into the game. The Badgers made three field goals in a row to pull within one point. A Nate Mason steal and transition three-pointer shifted the Gophers’ advantage back to four points. However, the Badgers drained three more shots and led 25-24 with 3:09 left in the first half. An Amir Coffey three-pointer and and two Reggie Lynch free throws brought the Gophers into halftime with a sloppy 29-27 lead.
The Gophers and Badgers traded leads to start the second half until Nigel Hayes drilled a three-pointer to put Wisconsin up by three points. The Badgers went on an 18-2 run to start the second half and led 48-35 with 11:30 left. Later in the half, an Amir Coffey three-pointer brought the Gophers within 6 points, but that’s as close as they would get. The Badgers used double-digit scoring from Bronson Koenig, Zak Showalter, and Nigel Hayes to roll past the Gophers, 66-49.
Coffey attacking is critical
Amir Coffey was playing more aggressive in the early stages of the game. He was attacking off the dribble, which makes him so difficult to defend. His length and athleticism, paired with his passing ability are a tough matchup for teams. Coffey had two no look passes in the first half and finished with 13 points. When Coffey attacks the rim, it opens up more opportunities for other players to score. Not to mention, defenders have a difficult time handling his smooth ball-handling after his strong first step.
In the second half, the Gophers settled for long and mid-range jumpers, shying away from attacking the rim. They didn’t run through their offensive sets and seemed rushed in every facet of their offense. Minnesota also had numerous possessions where they missed easy baskets around the rim throughout the game. Everything seemed very rushed and forced, which is something we haven’t seen much from this team. In addition, they weren’t playing as a team and relied on individual offense throughout. There was no mindset behind their offense and it led to complete chaos at times.
Gophers can’t capitalize on the Wisconsin scoring drought
At the 7:25 mark of the first half, Wisconsin made just two shots over 14 attempts, were 2-for-7 at the rim, and 1-for-3 from the free throw line. The Gophers didn’t capitalize, aside from the early 8-0 run. Minnesota had several offensive fouls, turnovers, and wasted possessions that prevented them from pulling ahead from the Badgers. Minnesota had eight first half turnovers and it allowed the Badgers to hang around. Eventually, Wisconsin awoke from the floor, drilling six consecutive shots to pull ahead by one point. The Gophers were a step slow rotating on defense and had three instances where they couldn’t rebound Ethan Happ missed shots at the rim. When Minnesota couldn’t capitalize on the slow start, you just knew Wisconsin would come alive in the second half.
Mason trying to do too much
Nate Mason was causing disruptions off the dribble in the first half. Wisconsin guard Zak Showalter was having trouble handling Mason when he dribbled right and quickly changed direction. When Mason attacked off that, he was able to finish with a floater or layup at the rim. Mason was drilling tough shots all over the floor and had confidence in his mid-range jumper. The final 20 minutes was a different story.
In the second half, he took far too many individual shots and really struggled on the defensive end. He fouled D’Mitrik Trice for a 4-point-play and was out of defensive position on at least three other occasions. The entire Minnesota transition defense was terrible in this game. Nobody could find any shooters in transition and it allowed the Badgers to accumulate easy looks all over the floor. Wisconsin was killing the Gophers by attacking hard off the dribble and passing the ball well. In addition, Dupree McBrayer had several costly turnovers and forced shots in the second half. However, the huge momentum shift in this game was the 4-point-play and the Gophers never seemed to recover from it.
Lynch ball security, no post output
The Gophers are a completely different team when they get into foul trouble down low. Jordan Murphy picked up quick fouls and it really impacted the Minnesota offense. They couldn’t get post touches and weren’t nearly as aggressive on offense. This was fueled by the foul trouble, Minnesota not attacking off the dribble, and settling for poor shots early in the shot clock.
Reggie Lynch needs to start catching the ball before putting it on the floor. There were several instances where he dribbled the basketball and it was poked away for a costly turnover or held ball. The Gophers had too many turnovers in the game and they couldn’t maximize their possessions. This was a problem in the first half of the Nebraska game, but the Gophers were able to overcome it. Minnesota gets into trouble when they dribble the ball all over and don’t run their sets.
Jordan Murphy also got into foul trouble and went to the bench early in the second half with three fouls. This really changed how aggressive Murphy could be on the offensive end. The Gophers didn’t get post touches inside and weren’t getting any output down low. As I indicated in the Nebraska report, this team needs to have at least one post touch every possession and that simply didn’t happen in this game.
What’s Next?
The Gophers are the #4 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will play on Friday, 25 minutes after Game 7, which begins at 11 a.m. CT.