Four things learned from the Gophers men’s basketball loss to Purdue

All the Gophers men’s basketball team wanted was to give itself a chance to beat Purdue in the second half of Thursday night’s game.

The opportunity was there with the Gophers leading the No. 20 Boilermakers by one point early in the second half, but Minnesota was dominated in almost every facet in the 81-61 loss.

Gophers coach Ben Johnson saw his team’s competitiveness vanish while being outscored 51-30 in the last 18-plus minutes.

The Gophers (8-6) are now staring at their second 0-3 Big Ten start in the last three seasons heading into Monday’s home game against Ohio State.

Johnson said his team was “not mature enough” to keep from caving in the second half when faced with adversity.

“They’re a really good team that will make you pay,” he said of Purdue. “When you get into league play, you’ve got to have guys step up and make plays on both sides of the ball.”

Here are four things learned from the loss to Purdue on Thursday:

You would be hard pressed to find another game this season when the Gophers looked like night and day defensively from one half to another.

Big Ten preseason player of the year Braden Smith went 1-for-7 from the field in the first half Thursday, but he scored 17 of his 20 points after halftime on 6-for-10 shooting, including 4-for-7 from three-point range.

Fletcher Loyer went from a decent game early to scoring 16 of his 24 points in the second half. All of his field goals were three-pointers, as he went 4-for-6 from deep.

Four Purdue starters combined to score 50 points on 64% shooting from the field in the second half.

In Big Ten play, the Gophers are last in scoring defense (allowing 84.3 points), last in field goal percentage defense (53%) and second-to last in three-point defense (42.6%) through three games.

Last month, Purdue lost to Texas A&M 70-66 in the Indy Classic with a familiar face playing in the post for the Aggies.

Ex-Gophers forward Pharrel Payne came off the bench to control the paint with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Payne outplayed Purdue’s big man Trey Kaufman-Renn.

On Thursday, Dawson Garcia finished with his eighth 20-point game of the season, including 14 points in the second half. But he had little to no help inside. The U’s leading rebounder was guard Lu’Cye Patterson with eight.

Parker Fox, Frank Mitchell and Trey Edmonds combined for just 10 points and six rebounds rotating alongside Garcia in the middle. Meanwhile, Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst combined for 28 points and 10 rebounds in Purdue’s starting frontcourt.

Thursday against the Boilermakers, Brennan Rigsby didn’t see the floor. It was the first game this season he remained on the bench.

The bouncy 6-3 senior started the first 10 games and had three double figure scoring performances, but he seems to be out of the current guard rotation.

Rigsby watched as senior starters Mike Mitchell Jr. and Femi Odukale combined to score just 10 points on 5-for-15 shooting, including 0-for-7 on three-pointers.

Patterson finished with 14 points, but seven points came when the Gophers were already down by 17, with under five minutes to play.

Freshman Isaac Asuma, who had seven points and four rebounds, was a spark with his hustle play at times. It was also a learning experience for him facing arguably the Big Ten’s top backcourt.

Smith and Loyer alone outscored all four Gopher guards 44-31.

Problems have resurfaced at the foul line just when the Gophers thought their struggles were behind them.

During a four-game stretch, Johnson’s team shot 79% (49-for-62) on free throws, which included Big Ten losses to Michigan State and Indiana.

But in the last two games, the Gophers have missed 18 free throws combined (22-for-40), including 5-for-13 in the second half against Purdue.

Garcia was shooting 83.7% at the line entering Thursday, but he surprisingly went 2-for-7 in the game. Odukale, Edmonds and Frank Mitchell were 2-for-6 at the line.

The lone bright spot was Patterson’s 3-for-3 foul shooting on the night. The Gophers will probably be better off if he gets to the foul line more often. He’s leading the Big Ten at 11-for-11 on free throws in league play.