Minnesota’s offense stalls at No. 18 Ohio State 70-45

By: Tony Liebert |
Feb. 15, 2021: After leading by two at halftime, Minnesota’s offense collapsed in half No. 2 resulting in its fewest point total of the season 70-45.

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Full Game Recap:

  • First Half: Traveling to Columbus, Ohio as (+13) point underdogs, Ben Johnson had the Gophers ready to play. Thanks to two early threes from Jamison Battle, Minnesota led 10-8 just over five minutes into the game. The Gophers defense continued to play well, but after missing 2 of 11 field goals and failing to score for 4:41, Ohio State led 12-10 with 11 minutes to go in the half. Without picking up their shooting the Gophers defense continued to lead the way, trailing the Buckeyes 17-13, while shooting only 29.4% heading into the under eight media timeout. As the defense continued to play well, an 8-0 run offensively gave Minnesota a 21-17 lead heading into the final media timeout of the first half. Payton Willis finally got his first points of the half, and the Maroon & Gold led 25-23 at the break.

  • Second Half: After a very uncharacteristic performance in the first half, Ohio State came out of the locker room with something to prove. A five of five start from the field and three of three start from the three-point line resulted in a 37-29 Gophers deficit with about 16 minutes to go. Ohio State continued to flex its offensive muscles and forgot how to miss, starting the second half 9-12 as a team. Minnesota trailed 47-34 with 12 minutes to go. Luke Loewe was the only Gopher that could get anything going offensively in the second half. His 12 points at the 8-minute mark were not enough, as Minnesota trailed 51-38. Payton Willis was never able to get anything going, really limiting the Gophers’ ceiling offensively and trailed 62-42 heading into the final media timeout. A disastrous second half was too much to overcome, resulting in a 70-45 defeat.

Instant Reaction & Takeaways:

The last two games have made a statement, showing that the Nebraska game was an anomaly. Following that loss, it was the first time that I was seriously disappointed in this team, but that is a thing of the past. After a great start early in the season defensively, the Gophers have seriously struggled on that end of the floor in Big Ten play. The first 20 minutes tonight was easily their best half of defensive basketball in 2022…. well those were my thoughts after the first half.
Ohio State flexed its muscles in the second half. Kempom.com ranks the Buckeyes as the No. 7 offensive team in the country, and a team that well does not play that poorly in consecutive halves, and the Gophers simply did not have the bodies to keep up. While the defense shined in the first half, the offense was seriously lacking, which ultimately continued into the second half. Whatever success they had defensively in the first half was also nowhere to be seen and disaster struck for the Maroon & Gold.
This team’s lack of depth shows up most when Payton Willis is not making shots. He was 2-11 from the field tonight, causing the Gophers to seriously lack an offensive identity. The supporting guards also never seem to be on the same page. Loewe seems to have found himself offensively with a team-high 12 points tonight, but when he is on it seems like Stephens and Sutherlin are off. When either Stephens or Sutherlin are making shots it seems like the other two struggle. When both of those things happen in the same night, you get the Gophers lowest point total of the season, breaking the previous low of 53 against Illinois.

What is Next?:

This was obviously a game that the Gophers were not expected to win, entering as (+13) points underdogs. They will now have two very winnable games, at Penn State on Thursday and at home against Northwestern on Saturday to close out the week. This continued to be a very disappointing stretch of Ben Johnson‘s first season as head coach of this program, but tonight they showed serious heart for 20 minutes, I just have zero idea what happened in the second 20.

This was a very weird game because it seemed like they came to play and be competitive but completely collapsed in the second half for really the first time this season. I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was that caused that final 20 minutes, throw that out the window and burn it.

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