The U of M men’s basketball team built a nine-point second-half lead against Michigan Saturday but couldn’t quite finish what they sta…
As we were saying, the Gophers seemed headed toward their first Big Ten victory of the season but when it came time to finish things off, Minnesota was unab…
Well, perhaps you get the idea.
In a game reminiscent of the loss to Purdue that opened their conference schedule, the Gophers were not golden in the game’s final minutes and fell to the Wolverines 62-57.
Minnesota is now 0-4 in Big Ten play. Three of those losses have been by five points or less.
Andre Hollins led the Gophers with 18 points. Hollins made only four of 14 shots from the field, but he did go 7 of 8 from the free throw line. His teammates, on the other hand, were 4 of 12 from the line.
As the box score shows, the Gophers missed more than 60 percent of their field goals and committed nearly twice as many turnovers as the Wolverines (17 compared to Michigan’s 9).
The Star Tribune says the Gophers were “hamstrung by a teamwide epidemic of throwing the ball out of bounds and a failure to make late plays….”
Past anger at this point. Just that familiar feeling of disappointment. Long odds for the tournament unless they go 10-4 down the stretch.
— Zips (@zipsofakron) January 10, 2015
The only guard taking charge and playing with calmness in those final 8 minutes was Nate Mason. And he's a freshman.
— Phil Mackey 🎙 (@PhilMackey) January 10, 2015
Hard to win on road in big ten which is why when you have double digit leads you can't let em slip away. 0-4 is a big hole
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) January 10, 2015
Michigan’s trapping defense had a lot to do with the Minnesota turnovers down the stretch. The report on Michigan’s M Live website congratulated the Wolverines for pulling themselves together after struggling through the game’s first 30 minutes.
Minnesota returns to action Tuesday night at Williams Arena against Iowa.
