Gophers Rally But Still Fall to Illini 64-52

In a game of spurts, the Gophers got outspurted by Illinois Wednesday night and dropped their second consecutive game in Big Ten play. The Illini raced out to a 13-0 lead to start the game and led by as many as 23 points in the second half, but Minnesota rallied late and flirted with making things interesting before falling by 12.

This game started ugly. The Illini scored on three uncontested putbacks while the Gophers got off just two shot attempts (between turnovers) in the game’s opening five minutes. Minnesota then went on a 13-4 run to get within 4, but Illinois pulled away again and led 38-22 at the break. After the Illini built the lead to 23 behind a barrage of 3-pointers, the Gophers finally started playing some pretty decent ball and got within 59-49 with five minutes left in the game. They were one shot away from cutting the lead to single digits and making things interesting, but turnovers and missed chances enabled the Illini to close out the game relatively comfortably.

Lawrence McKenzie led the Gophers with 17 points. He struggled from three-point range (1 for 6) and had 6 turnovers, but he was effective from two-point range and shot a decent 6 for 14 from the field overall. Dan Coleman finished with 10 points and 5 boards, but he struggled from the field (largely due to the athletic Illini players guarding him) shooting just 2 for 13. Jonathan Williams had a strong defensive game blocking 5 shots in his 28 minutes. He also hauled in a team-high 6 rebounds. And Brandon Smith played well in his return from suspension with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes.

From a team perspective, the Gophers pretty much looked like what we’ve gotten used to seeing as of late. They defended pretty well (with the exception of the string of 3-pointers they gave up) and certainly well enough to win ““ Illinois shot just 44% from the field. They were beaten pretty clearly on the boards, getting outrebounded by 10 and giving up 15 offensive rebounds. And they once again struggled mightily to score. This was partly due to committing 18 turnovers, partly due to not being able to hit outside shots, partly due to not having an inside presence without Spencer Tollackson, and partly due to poor movement and passing. Needless to say, it’s hard to win when you shoot 39% and score just 52 points.

Up next are the Northwestern Wildcats Saturday at 1:30 pm at The Barn.

Here’s the box score.

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