The Minnesota Golden Gophers were without leading scorer Jamison Battle again on Monday night and his absence was felt in a 69-53 loss to the DePaul Blue Demons.
Battle sat out Monday night’s game as he continues to recover from October foot surgery. With the All-Big Ten preseason selection on the bench, the Gophers struggled, shooting 33 percent from the floor.
Dawson Garcia led the charge for Minnesota, scoring 19 points to go with six rebounds, but he shot just 5-for-14 including 2-for-6 from 3-point range. Freshman Pharrel Payne also put up 12 points off the bench but point guard Ta’Lon Cooper (10 points) was the only other Gopher in double figures.
DePaul also dominated on the glass. The Blue Demons had a 48-32 edge on rebounds and pulled down 20 offensive boards to help create second chances.
With the Gophers struggling in both areas, DePaul raced out to a 34-22 lead at halftime. Javan Johnson scored a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds and Eral Penn had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Philmon Gebrewhit knocked down three 3-pointers on the way to a 15-point performance off the bench and the Blue Demons were never threatened on their way to Minnesota’s first non-conference home loss since 2019.
The Gophers will look to when they host Central Michigan on Thursday night.
