Offensive Struggles Lead to 10 Point Loss at Illinois

Winning on the road is very tough to do in the Big Ten. When you factor in that the Gophers have lost 16 consecutive games against the Illini and suffered a 20 minute drought in which they only made two field goals, the stars weren’t aligned Saturday night at Assembly Hall for Minnesota. And that is why the 59-49 Illinois win is not a surprise.

The Gophers did play better than they did when they hosted Illinois a few weeks ago, a game in which the Illini jumped to a commanding lead early on. But instead of trailing by 16 at halftime like they did in their previous meeting, Limar Wilson made a great defensive play and converted on a three-point play in the final second of the first half to cut the deficit to 29-25 at halftime.

But Illinois made some adjustments to start the second half and the Gophers suffered a frustrating offensive slump and the Illini went on a 21-6 run to start the second half””eventually opening up a 21 point lead.

But Jonathan Williams continued his strong play and came up with some big offensive rebounds as the Gophers cut the lead to single digits in the games final minutes. But it was too little too late, as the Illini pulled away and secured its 17th straight victory over the Gophers, the longest winning streak in the Big Ten for one opponent over another.

Williams finished with 10 points and nine rebounds (six offensive), Dan Coleman led the Gophers with 13 points and Lawrence McKenzie chipped in with nine points.

But in the end, the Gophers shot horribly from three-point land (3/18) and struggled mightily on the offensive end. For the fifth time in conference play Minnesota failed to score 50 points and as a result, they fall to 9-14 and 3-6 in Big Ten play.

The Gophers return home on Wednesday night and hope to have Spencer Tollackson back from an injury as Minnesota plays host to rival Iowa.