Gophers freshman Isaiah Ihnen adjusts to U.S. basketball, becomes a reliable contributor

Freshman forward Isaiah Ihnen sat distraught outside the locker room after the Gophers' 71-69 loss at Wisconsin on Sunday.

The former four-star recruit played his best game so far, in a season where the opportunities have been slim. One mistake was hard to swallow, though.

Ihnen's 7-4 wingspan didn't matter when he turned his head defensively with 30 seconds to play and got beat on a backdoor cut by Badgers forward Aleem Ford for a go-ahead dunk.

His teammates consoled Ihnen after the heartbreaking loss.

"There's nothing to really get down on yourself about," sophomore center Daniel Oturu said. "He's going to be a really good player in this league for a long time."

In a season defined by the team's struggles with youth and inexperience, Ihnen's development is a bright spot for the Gophers (13-15, 7-11 Big Ten), heading into Wednesday's game at Indiana (18-11, 8-10).

Despite his defensive mistake against Wisconsin, the 6-9, 220-pound native of Germany had six points and a career-best 10 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. His role has expanded from rarely-used reserve to one of the first players Richard Pitino looks to for a spark in the frontcourt.

In his past four games, Ihnen has averaged 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 18.8 minutes. He's made seven three-pointers over that span and blocked three shots in a 58-55 loss to Iowa on Feb. 16. All the while, Ihnen recovered from a right wrist injury that caused him to miss the 83-57 victory at Northwestern on Feb. 23.

Ihnen, who missed the first two games of the season because of an earlier wrist injury, gained 15 pounds since arriving in August after helping to lead Germany to the bronze medal at the Under-20 European Championship.

"With me, it's just getting used to the physicality of it all," Ihnen said in February. "Obviously, I wasn't able to [lift weights] throughout the summer, so I feel like it was a very good amount of progress."

Ihnen was asked to adjust to basketball in the U.S. and play in the post since joining the Gophers. Power forward production has been an issue for the Gophers after the season-ending knee injury to junior Eric Curry and senior starter Alihan Demir struggling.

Ihnen does his best competing against bigger and stronger players inside. He scores mostly from the perimeter, with 12 of his 17 baskets this season coming on three-pointers.

It's not suddenly a revelation that Ihnen has the talent to help the Gophers. After all, he was Pitino's top recruit in the 2019 class, ranking as the 89th-best player by 247Sports.com.

Ihnen's expectation was to be a major factor. When that didn't immediately happen, he tried to stay confident until called upon.