The Minnesota Golden Gopher men’s basketball team continued its slide on Thursday night, losing its ninth of the past 11 games in a 67-59 loss to Northwestern.
The Gophers came into the game banged up as starters Gabe Kalscheur and Liam Robbins sat out due to injury. With Minnesota needing a spark it couldn’t find anyone to pick up the slack.
Minnesota shot just 35 percent from the floor and 3-for-25 (12 percent) from three-point range, but still found a way to go into the locker room with a 31-25 lead at halftime.
With the Gophers unable to buy a bucket, the Wildcats took advantage by going on a 12-0 run to start the second half. Boo Buie was terrifying for Northwestern, putting up a team-high 24 points and the Gophers simply didn’t have an answer on offense.
Marcus Carr scored 21 points for the Gophers while Jamal Mashburn Jr. (13 points) and Brandon Johnson (10 points) also scored in double-figures. But Minnesota couldn’t find its shot and wound up falling to the 7-14 Wildcats.
Minnesota is now 13-11 on the season and is quickly falling out of contention for an NCAA tournament bid. The Gophers will try to salvage their season when they travel to Nebraska on Saturday.
