The Minnesota Golden Gopher men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to unranked Maryland 63-49 on Saturday afternoon.
The 17th-ranked Gophers got off to an uncharacteristic start at “The Barn” on Saturday, allowing Maryland to open the game on a 17-3 run.
As Minnesota got its bearings, it did so behind the performance of Marcus Carr. The junior helped lead a 14-3 run to help the Gophers get back into the game and finished with 23 points on the afternoon.
Marcus Carr is starting to cook. 🍳@GopherMBB is cutting into the deficit: pic.twitter.com/MvxFee8MaM
— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) January 23, 2021
While the Gophers were able to bring the lead down to three points, Maryland finished the first half with a flurry, going into the locker room with a 36-27 lead at halftime.
The second half was more of the same for the Gophers as they settled for jump shots over taking advantage of an undersized Maryland team. Liam Robbins didn’t help matters, getting into foul trouble quickly and leaving Minnesota without its center.
With Minnesota shooting 28 percent from the floor, the Terrapins were able to control the game. Eric Ayala finished with 21 points for Maryland as the Terrapins scored the upset and their third victory on the road against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 poll this season.
The Gophers (11-5, 4-5 Big Ten) will have a week to think about the defeat as they’ll return to the court on Jan. 30 when they travel to Purdue.
