Final: #Gophers fall to Oklahoma State. pic.twitter.com/kMCwTg3rAL
— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) December 13, 2015
Oklahoma State 62
Minnesota Gophers 60
What is it about South Dakota, anyway? The state seems to have a curse over the Minnesota Gophers as they lost their third game in a row Saturday night – all of them with a South Dakota connection.
The Gophers lost to Oklahoma State 62-60 – they were playing in South Dakota, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The previous two losses were at home, against teams from South Dakota and South Dakota State.
#Gophers men's basketball update:
0-2 vs. South Dakota teams
0-1 playing in South DakotaThat's…not good.
— Keith Leventhal (@KeithLeventhal) December 13, 2015
1. Poor shooting doomed Gophers
Minnesota shot only 35 percent from the floor on the night, the St. Paul Pioneer Press notes. Head coach Richard Pitino tried to shake things up after the two straight losses, including playing all five freshmen in the first half. But that wasn’t the answer.
Nate Mason led the Gophers with 14 points and Jordan Murphy had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
2. Big lead slipped away
Minnesota led by as many as nine points during the first half but let the Cowboys back into it. In the second half, Oklahoma State went on a 20-6 run to open up their own nine-point lead.
Minnesota fought back and came within two points with a little more than a minute left. But they couldn’t get over the hump and were forced to foul down the stretch. OSU made four of six free throws to put the game away.
Pitino: "It's a process. It's going to take time. This is one of the youngest teams out there." #Gophers
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) December 13, 2015
3. Where’s Buggs?
Charles Buggs didn’t play at all Saturday night – he was replaced in the starting lineup by freshman Dupree McBrayer, the Star Tribune notes. That after he was pulled out of the lineup in the second half of the SDSU game on Tuesday night.
Pitino said he didn't play Charles Buggs because he just played the guys he thought would give his team best chance to win. No discipline
— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) December 13, 2015
Tweets of the night:
Buzzer Beater!! Ahmad Gilbert buries a deep three to help @GopherMBB close the first half with the lead. https://t.co/IzTn39kGY5
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) December 13, 2015
Oklahoma State lost at home to Missouri St., which lost to the Little Richards in Puerto Rico.
— Patrick Reusse (@Patrick_Reusse) December 13, 2015
Up next:
The Gophers host Chicago State at Williams Arena Wednesday night.
