Inside the Gophers men’s basketball team’s heated loss at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, IND. – Seniors Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell Jr. thought they let their Gophers men’s basketball team down Monday night, but they weren’t the only players embarrassed after the 82-67 loss at Indiana.

Gophers coach Ben Johnson challenged his team with a lengthy postgame locker room speech Monday. The seniors took it personally because they were expected to set the standard for how everyone competes.

“He spoke to that we don’t have a true leader on our team,” Garcia said. “That’s a shot at me. That’s a shot at Parker [Fox]. It’s a shot at Mike. It’s a shot at a lot of guys. He was calling people up and calling people out.”

Garcia had a team-high 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting, but he thought he didn’t talk to his teammates enough when the Gophers were outhustled and lacked enough fight, falling behind by as many as 21 points in the second half at Assembly Hall.

Mitchell, who had 10 points in his first start since injuring his ankle in early November, was disappointed in his defensive effort. But it was an issue for the entire team against a formidable Hoosiers offensive attack.

“I still need to do a lot better defensively,” Mitchell said. “I need to be a lot better next game.”

Here are four things learned after the Gophers dropped to 0-2 in the Big Ten on Monday:

Indiana and Michigan State are arguably the two worst matchups in the Big Ten for the Gophers this season, but Johnson’s team had to play them both in early conference play.

The Spartans combine size with length and athleticism. They’re also a traditional Tom Izzo-coached team with toughness and physicality. The Hoosiers are just as big, athletic and physical.

The result was the Gophers being dominated on the boards and pounded in the paint in two games. Michigan State outrebounded them 39-27 and scored 36 points in the paint. Indiana had the rebounding edge, 35-22, and scored 42 points in the paint. Wake Forest and Wichita State had success with 38 and 44 points in the paint in victories against the Gophers, respectively. The Demon Deacons also had a 42-27 rebounding advantage, including 13 offensive boards.

“We had our chances to show what we learned,” Johnson said. “And we just didn’t. That’s the hard pill to swallow. That urgency all of the time. That effort all of the time. This league is unforgiving.”

It’s been a revolving door in the frontcourt role opposite Garcia this season between Fox, Frank Mitchell and Trey Edmonds. The Gophers haven’t been able to find any consistency at that spot.

Mitchell has started all eight games he’s played since being sidelined to open the season with a shoulder injury. At 260 pounds, he’s the physical presence the Gophers need, but Mitchell hasn’t been on the floor long enough to make a significant impact with less than 20 minutes played in five straight games. He had five points and two rebounds in 14 minutes at Indiana.

Edmonds could match Indiana’s size at 6-10 and 250 pounds, but he finished with more fouls than points and rebounds combined (3-1) in just nine minutes Monday.

Undersized for a Big Ten post, Fox attacked the basket with dunks but struggled to battle with the big boys defensively and on the boards. The Mahtomedi native still had six points and four steals in 18 minutes against the Hoosiers.

Opposing teams won’t respect the Gophers’ outside shooting until they make them pay consistently. That hasn’t been the case this season.

Through 11 games, Minnesota ranked second-to-last in the Big Ten in three-point shooting and 304th nationally at 29.1%.

The fact Garcia is putting up career offensive numbers is impressive and a testament to his talent because the entire defenses are focused on him. The Hoosiers weren’t bothered much Monday by the U’s three-point shooting, which ended up at 2-for-11. Mike Mitchell Jr. went 2-for-3 from long distance, but the rest of the Gophers were 0-for-8.

A similar theme played out in the Gophers’ 18-point loss at home last week against Michigan State. Mitchell went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, but his teammates were 4-for-19.

The Gophers missed 30 free throws combined in four losses entering Monday against the Hoosiers, which likely cost them, with three losses by six points or fewer.

They rank 17th out of 18 Big Ten teams shooting 63.5% from the foul line this season, but went 13-for-15 from the charity stripe in Bloomington. Garcia, Patterson, Fox and Mike Mitchell Jr. combined to shoot 12-for-12 in one of the toughest environments in the league.