Minnesota can’t find rhythym in 75-62 regular season finale loss to Northwestern

By: Tony Liebert |
March 6, 2021: After falling down by 20 at the half, the Gophers’ comeback attempt came up short against Northwestern, falling 75-62 in their final game of the regular season.

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Full Game Recap:

  • First Half: With Eric Curry back in the lineup (upper-body) after a one-game absence, the Gophers did not come out with much energy. In its senior night, Northwestern quickly jumped out to a 12-3 lead heading into the first media timeout. Minnesota’s energy continued to lack and Northwestern took advantage. Thanks to three made threes from Robbie Beran the Wildcats’ lead was quickly extended to 27-9. An 11-0 Northwestern difference in second-chance points showed on the scoreboard. Jamison Battle had nine of the Gophers’ first 16 points, as they trailed 34-16 with seven minutes to go. The Gophers began to settle in offensively, but Northwestern was not cooling down anytime soon, leading 41-25 heading into the final media timeout of the half. A disaster of a first-half finally came to an end with the Gophers trailing 46-26.

  • Second Half: Jamison Battle continued to be the only Gophers player that showed up. Seven quick second-half points brought his game total to 18, and Minnesota trailed 54-37 heading into the first media timeout of the half. The Gophers had a little something left in the tank and went on an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 54-43 with 11:49 to go. It looked like Gophers had worked themselves back into the game, but they still could not find much offense outside of Battle, trailing 59-45 heading into the under-eight timeout. They still had one more run in them. Luke Loewe and Sean Sutherlin both hit big threes and the Maroon & Gold trailed by only eight heading into the final media timeout. There was no magic left, and the Gophers fell 75-62 in the end.

Instant Reaction & Takeaways:

Deciding to play four of your five starters 35+ minutes a game finally caught up to Ben Johnson and the Gophers. Curry, fortunately, came back from injury, but he did not look healthy tonight. With only 3 points on 0-5 shooting with 5 rebounds, it was one of his worst performances of the season, he did not look like himself. The Gophers looked best with Battle playing the five, but that is often difficult to overcome and you obviously give up any advantage that you had in the paint, showing with a 48-31 rebounding margin and 26-20 difference in points in the paint.
Another aspect that has continued to bite the Gophers, in the last few games, is Luke Loewe‘s disappearance. After scoring 10+ points in seven of 10 games in the month of February, he has been held under five points in each of the last four games. Battle and Willis have shown up to play in almost every game this season, but when Loewe, Sutherlin and Curry combine to shoot 3-20 for 11 combined points this offense desperately struggles. Today was another game where this team’s holes

What is Next?:

Minnesota will officially finish the season last in the Big Ten with a 4-16 conference record. With next week’s Big Ten Tournament, they will play Penn State in their first game at 7:30 p.m. (CST) with a chance to take on Ohio State in the next round and then Purdue after that. Penn State is a team that the Gophers beat earlier in the season, so there is a chance for this team to end the season with a postseason victory.

This was an incredibly underwhelming end to a season that started with so much promise, there is no other way to put it. It would be wrong to put a lot into the final week of the regular season. This team should be remembered for always fighting and never giving up, which will leave a culture of competing for this Gophers program. After another 20-point performance from Jamison Battle tonight, there is certainly still a lot to look forward to next season. The calender does say March and you never know what could happen.

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