Letdown in Lincoln: Gophers blown out by Huskers

Final for the #Gophers. pic.twitter.com/Bn20lxpVve

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) January 13, 2016

Minnesota Gophers 59

Nebraska Cornhuskers 84

The Minnesota Gophers were blown out by the Nebraska Cornhuskers 84-59 Tuesday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.

1. Embarrassed from the start

The game was really settled in the first half, as Nebraska built an early lead thanks to a big run.

Now a 26-4 Nebraska run. Seriously, #Gophers

— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) January 13, 2016

That lead expanded to nearly 30 at one point early in the second half.

#Gophers are now down 55-26 at Nebraska. Northwestern had them down 27 pts in second half in the last game.

— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) January 13, 2016

2. No stopping Shields

The Gophers really struggled to defend anybody Tuesday night, but Shavon Shields in particular took advantage of Minnesota with 24 points and eight rebounds. And when he wasn’t scoring, he was setting up his teammates.

Shavon ➡️ Morrow.

(via @NebraskaOnBTN)https://t.co/2MhlOoBSsv

— Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB) January 13, 2016

Shields’ big night came while making his 100th consecutive start for the Huskers – becoming just the second Nebraska basketball player to accomplish that.

3. Rock bottom

Is this as bad as it can get for the Gophers? Here are a few stats to think about.

• Joey King was held scoreless until there was just 3:30 to play in the game
• Minnesota was just 3-of-18 from the three-point line
• Gophers were out-rebounded 41-22

Things could have been really ugly if Nebraska hadn’t pulled their starters with more than six minutes to play.

If Nebraska wins by 38 tonight, it would tie #Gophers 2nd largest margin of defeat on road ever & tie for 4th largest margin of defeat ever.

— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) January 13, 2016

Tweet of the Night:

Are we being punk'd? Where's Ashton Kutcher? #Gophers

— Nadine Babu (@NadineBabu) January 13, 2016

Up Next:

It won’t get any easier for the struggling Gophers (6-11, 0-5) they host Indiana on Saturday at “The Barn.”