The Gopher men’s basketball team had its chances in their Big Ten opener Thursday at Williams Arena, but in the end they crumbled on offense, losing to Michigan 63-60.
Minnesota was in a good position against short-handed Michigan, who were without preseason All-American Mitch Mcgary the entire game (back surgery) and Glenn Robinson III for most of the second-half after he injured his leg.
But the Gophers made just one field goal the final six minutes of the game, with the final miss coming on a three from Deandre Mathieu that would’ve sent the game to overtime as time expired.
The combination of Dre and Austin Hollins, the Gophers top two scorers, went just 4-19 from the field for 12 points, while starting forward Oto Osieniks wasn’t of much help either, going just 1-7 from the floor.
Michigan got 28 off the bench from the duo of Jon Horford and Zak Irvin, making up for Robinson’s second-half absence.
Minnesota outrebounded Michigan 38-24, but that was offset by the Gophers shooting under 40 percent from the field and 5-20 from beyond the arc.
After dropping their conference opener, the Gophers have until Sunday to get it right, when they will face the Purdue Boilermakers at The Barn in a 1:30 p.m. tipoff.
