Leading scorer Dawson Garcia watches Gophers struggle again

EVANSTON, ILL. – Dawson Garcia was going through arguably the best stretch of his career earlier this month when he led the Gophers men's basketball team to its first and only Big Ten victory, but now he's watching teammates struggle without him.

The Gophers' leading scorer and rebounder missed his second game in a row in Saturday's 81-61 loss at Northwestern. He suffered a bone bruise injury in the Jan. 19 loss at Michigan.

Coach Ben Johnson said Garcia, who is averaging 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds, did some work earlier in the morning, but he still wasn't comfortable making moves off his right foot.

"We're going to be really smart with that," Johnson said. "He couldn't do it. I'd rather be overly cautious with it, so that when he comes back, he's able to finish the year. We'll see what he's got for Wednesday [at Rutgers]."

Garcia had seven straight double-figure scoring games from early December to mid-January for the Gophers, including a career-high tying 28 points in a Jan. 12 win at Ohio State. But he landed awkwardly after drilling a three-pointer in the corner late in the loss in Ann Arbor.

After limping to the locker room, the former Prior Lake star tried to play on what looked like a bad ankle at the time, but he finished with 13 points and seven turnovers.

On Saturday, Garcia watched in street clothes from the bench as the team's second leading scorer, Jamison Battle, tried to carry the Gophers without him. Battle finished with 20 points. It was his second consecutive 20-point effort, but he was frustrated that the team didn't compete like it did in Wednesday's 61-57 home loss against Indiana.

The 20-point loss Saturday against the Wildcats was the largest margin of defeat for the Gophers in the series since 2018.

"It's just emphasizing the little things," Battle said. "That's what good teams do. They're so dialed into things you don't think matter but actually have a huge impact. I think that's where we need to take a step."

Johnson stuck around in Illinois after the game to watch his future guard and four-star Rolling Meadows High senior Cameron Christie, who signed with the Gophers in November.

Christie, who was averaging 22 points for one of the top big class teams in Illinois, played in the Glenbrook South Shootout on Saturday night against Moline High, which features Iowa recruits Owen Freeman and Brock Harding.

In the Gophers' 2023 recruiting class, Christie is joined by five-star 7-1 Riverside (Calif.) Hillcrest center Dennis Evans III.