Offense Not Enough as Gophers Fall to Iowa 91-78

Oh, how long we’ve waited to see the Gopher offense shoot 63% from the field and score 78 points. I didn’t think the day would come again this season. And I definitely didn’t think that it could come and yet still result in a 13-point loss. But the Hawkeyes shot the ball well themselves, won the battle of the boards, and rode Adam Haluska‘s 34 points to earn a much needed road victory.

Simply put, you can’t give up 91 points on your home court. While Haluska was red-hot and Iowa as a team made several tough shots, Minnesota just didn’t have the defensive intensity needed to win. That lack of intensity was also evident on the boards, where Iowa grabbed 10 offensive rebounds compared to Minnesota’s 3.

On the bright side, Spencer Tollackson came back from his 7-game absence in impressive fashion. Despite certainly having lost some conditioning, Spencer played 34 strong minutes and finished with a very impressive 23 points on 9 for 13 shooting. Spencer looked amazingly healthy on the offensive end, but the cast/wrap on his hand no doubt led to some of his 5 turnovers and difficulty controlling a few rebounds.

Several other Gophers joined Spencer with strong offensive nights. Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie scored 16 points each, both shooting better than 50% from the field. Brandon Smith hit all five of his shots and finished with 10 points in 21 minutes. And Limar Wilson had 6 points and 6 assists in 25 minutes.

So where do the Gophers go from here? Well, maintaining their offense from tonight while trying to get back to their defensive roots wouldn’t be a bad direction. Michigan is a team that has had some recent struggles, so maybe the Gophers will have a shot at a road upset Saturday night.

Here’s the box score.

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