Minnesota’s run in the Big Ten tournament as the No. 14 seed ended in the second round with a 70-54 loss to Maryland Thursday night in Chicago.
Jamison Battle, who fouled out with nine minutes remaining in Minnesota’s win over Nebraska on Wednesday, didn’t make a shot until there was just over 12 minutes left in the second half.
It wasn’t much better for Minnesota’s other upperclassman Ta’lon Cooper and Dawson Garcia. As a trio, Battle, Garcia and Cooper combined to shoot 5-of-23 for 13 points.
Minnesota’s offense was led by freshman Pharrel Payne and Braeden Carrington, who both came off the bench to combine for 29 of the Gophers’ 54 points. Payne had 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Carrington had 12 points, hitting 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Payne and Carrington figure to have big roles next season.
Head coach Ben Johnson made it fairly clear earlier this week that Battle and Cooper are likely going to forego their remaining eligibility and look for opportunities to play professionally. If true, their final game in maroon and gold wasn’t one to remember.
Next year’s Gophers roster will be without their second- and third-leading scorers from this season, and their top assist man (Cooper). For Battle, it will go down as a season to forget, both as a team and individually. He averaged 17.8 points on 45% shooting last season. This season he averaged 12.8 points on 37.7% shooting while also seeing his rebounds per game drop from 6.3 to 3.8 per game.
Minnesota finishes the season 9-22.
