Gophers hand Nebraska first B1G win of season 78-65

By: Tony Liebert |
Feb. 9, 2021: After an incredibly dissapointing second-half performance against Iowa, the Gophers continued with two horrible halves of basketball continuing their worst stretch of the season.

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Full Game Recap:

  • First Half: Nebraska came out on fire with its hair on fire. After three early Gophers turnovers, they trailed 9-2. Nebraska continued to outrun the Gophers with simply more speed and athleticism. The fast-paced game favored the Cornhuskers, as they carried a 17-8 lead heading into the under 12 media timeout. Eight turnovers continued to be too much for Minnesota to overcome and an 0-8 start from beyond the arc resulted in a 22-13 deficit with 6:43 to play in half No. 1. Unbelievably slow first halves from both Jamison Battle and Payton Willis resulted in two points combined from the duo and a 32-21 deficit heading into the locker room.

  • Second Half: Jamison Battle seemed to finally find a rhythm with two early threes in the first half. It looked like the Gophers had life, but still trailed 38-27. Another Battle three brought the Marron & Gold within eight, but the Cornhuskers quickly responded with a 7-0 run and led 47-32 with 12:52 to go. Battle continued to do his best to keep Minnesota in the game. A miraculous 17 second-half points cut Nebraska’s lead to only 59-43 heading into the under eight media timeout. Every time it looked like the Gophers had any sliver of hope, Nebraska quickly shut it out with an answer. There was just zero success to be found for Minnesota and they ultimately fell 78-65.

Instant Reaction & Takeaways:

I honestly have no words. If you have read these all year, you could tell how much of a believer I am in Ben Johnson, but these last two games have been hard to watch, very hard. I really don’t know what to say this game was terrible. Nebraska is quietly a very talented team and its struggles have been a surprise this season, but that is no excuse to lose this badly to a team with zero conference victories. This was simply the most uncharacteristic game of the season. These Gophers played nothing like the Gophers we saw for the first 19 games of the season. Between the turnovers and lack of discipline, this was an incredibly frustrating game to watch.

What is Next?:

Through the first 11 games of the season, there was so much to like about this Gophers team and so much to like about Ben Johnson. For me, most of what I liked about this team is now gone, but much of what I liked about Johnson is still there. This game does not tell the story of this season, and I still believe in Ben Johnson. Heading into this season my expectations were low and it looked like Johnson and the Gophers were going to exceed them. They simply are not going to. This team is at the bottom of the Big Ten and they will likely stay there like most people thought before the season began. That does not mean that I do not still believe in Johnson and the direction of the program.

With three of the next four games against Penn State and Northwestern, Johnson and the Gophers will have a chance to regain any sort of momentum as they head into March, but if they play like they did today that would almost be impossible.

– Feb. 12: v. Penn St (9-11)
– Feb. 15: @ Ohio St (14-5)
– Feb. 17: @ Penn St
– Feb. 19: v. Northwestern (12-10)

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