Losing Home Season Goes Out on Losing Note to Michigan

There isn’t much worse than losing 20 games in a season (especially since the Gophers will wind up losing 21 or 22), but one thing I can think of is having a losing record at home. I never thought I’d see the day, but Saturday’s 62-51 loss to Michigan put the Gophers below .500 at The Barn. The lone bright spot on this sad day was the impressive performance of sophomore Jamal Abu-Shamala, who scored a career-high 27 points.

Jamal came out on fire, scoring 13 of Minnesota’s first 15 points and hitting 7 of his first 8 shots from the field (including 5 three-pointers and 2 long jumpers; his only miss was a blocked lay-up). Jamal eventually cooled off a bit as he had to force some shots to try to keep the Gophers in the game, but his hustle and intensity were there the entire game. He also led the Gophers with 6 rebounds.

Dan Coleman had another solid game, scoring 14 points on 5 for 10 shooting from the field. But the two Gophers had little help. Spencer Tollackson‘s two inside baskets were the only other field goals Minnesota scored. Lawrence McKenzie was held scoreless in 36 minutes, and Minnesota’s defense was porous enough to let a cold-shooting Michigan team score enough points to win.

Minnesota’s last game of the regular season is Wednesday night at Purdue.

Here’s the box score.

Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.