Minnesota falls short 84-79 to Indiana on Senior Night

By: Tony Liebert |
Feb. 27, 2021: After trailing by as many as 25 points, the Gophers were able to come all the way back and be within one possession of Indiana, until ultimately coming up short.

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Full Game Recap:

  • First Half: Sunday’s contest start at a quick offensive pace. In his final game at the Barn, Eric Curry was first on the board for the Gophers, but Indiana made seven of its first 10 field goals and jumped out to a 17-12 lead with 13 minutes to go in the half. The Hoosiers’ hot start continued, but back-to-back threes from Jamison Battle and Payton Willis helped the Gophers stay within striking distance, trailing 29-21 with 6:43 to go in half number one. The Gophers struggled to “break the seal” and Indiana just kept its distance for much of the first half. Everytime it looked the they were going to go on a run, the Hoosiers answered with a big three. Willis was able to beat the halftime buzzer with a big three, and the Gophers were able to carry some momentum and a 40-33 deficit into the locker room.

  • Second Half: Indiana came out of the locker room with a lot of the same energy it had in the first half. It continued to have its way with the Gophers offensively and took a 49-36 lead into the first media timeout of the half. Minnesota struggled to find any production for the early part of the second half. A one of six shooting start proved to be instrumental in the Hooisers oppeneing their lead to 53-36 with just under 14 minutes to go. The Gophers’ struggles continued and the air was quickly taken out of the Barn, while Indiana continued to poor it on, taking a 60-38 lead with 11 minutes to go. It looked like Indiana was going to blow the Gophers’ doors off, but what has become a theme with Ben Johnson-led teams, is they kept fighting. After trailing by as many as 22, the Gophers fought all the way back to within seven, thanks to great fight from both Sean Sutherlin and Payton Willis. Their comeback got them all the way withing three, but it was still too little too late, falling 84-79.

Instant Reaction & Takeaways:

Today’s game was really a microcosm of the whole season. Indiana is clearly the better and more talented basketball team, and they played like it for about 35 minutes. The Gophers could’ve easily packed it in mentally, but they didn’t. Ben Johnson has built a culture of competing and whatever the scoreboard say this team will fight as long as he is roaming the sidelines. With that being said, Minnesota played bad for much of this game, like really bad. The Hoosiers entered today firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble and they played like a team that badly needed a win. All day is just seemed like right when the Gophers were nearing a run, Indiana shut it down almost instantly, it controlled the momentum for 35 minutes. This team will always have something left in them and today was more evidence.
One thing that has hurt the Gophers recently is the disappearance of Luke Loewe. After a month straight of terrific basketball and a 24-point performance against Northwestern, he was 2-11 against Wisconsin and he was on his way to struggling again today. Right when he began to play well is when it looked like the momentum shifted. I believe that he has almost become the straw that stirs this team’s drink. Overall it was pretty clear that today they just put themselves in a hole that was too big to dig themselves out of.

What is Next?:

The Gophers will now have a two game road trip to close out their regular season. Maryland on Wednesday and Northwestern on Sunday are two teams that they might play in the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers have officially clinched a spot in the play-in portion and the Terrapins or Wildcats are their two most likely opponents. It is pretty obvious that this team will need a magical run in the conference tournament if they want any hopes of continuing to play after that.

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