The Minnesota Gophers couldn’t hang onto the basketball on Tuesday night as turnovers played a key role in a loss to the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers.
Turnovers were a problem for the Gophers, who committed 20 on the night including 13 steals from the Badgers. With Minnesota feeling generous, Wisconsin built a 21-5 edge in points off turnovers.
The turnovers were a buzzkill on a night where the Gophers had a chance to score an upset in Madison. Minnesota and Wisconsin battled throughout the first half with six lead changes and six ties and the Gophers had more optimism when Tyler Wahl, who leads the Badgers in points and rebounds, left the game with an ankle injury.
Wisconsin responded after the Gophers took a 26-24 lead, however, scoring the final eight points of the first half to go into halftime with a 32-26 lead. The Badgers came out of the locker room and scored the first seven points of the second half to expand the run to 15-0 and eventually build a 15-point lead.
The Gophers had some fight, ripping off a 6-0 run and an 11-0 run to make it a 54-53 game and held Wisconsin without a field goal for 4:16 seconds after Jordan Davis banked in a 3-pointer with 8:03 left in the second half. The Badgers’ defense was just as good, holding Minnesota without a field goal for 7:46.
Minnesota made things close with a pair of baskets down the stretch to make it 63-60 but Chucky Hepburn stripped Ta’Lon Cooper as time winded down to help the Badgers hold on.
Cooper led Minnesota with 16 points on the night while Dawson Garcia had 14 points and nine rebounds. Jamison Battle also had 13 points and nine rebounds but shot just 2-for-7 on 3-pointers.
Steven Crowl led Wisconsin with 17 points and five rebounds, Hepburn had 16 points and five steals Connor Essegian had 11 points off the bench.
The Gophers fell to 6-7 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play with the loss and will return to action on Saturday when they host Nebraska at Williams Arena.
