Ben Johnson was an assistant on the Gophers men’s basketball team the first time the program won at Maryland, in 2017.
Gophers fade away late against Maryland, fall to 0-6 in Big Ten men’s basketball
Minnesota led at halftime but could not control Terrapins freshman center Derik Queen in the second half.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 14, 2025 at 6:26AM
The fourth-year head coach desperately wanted to be part of another victory in College Park on Monday night after his Gophers arrived with a five-game losing streak to open Big Ten play.
The Gophers gave the Terrapins a scare in the first half, but they had no match late for freshman Derik Queen in a 77-71 loss at Xfinity Center.
Queen scored a career-high 27 points, including 18 points in the second half.
The Gophers (8-9, 0-6 Big Ten) flew straight to Maryland after Friday’s frustrating 80-59 loss at Wisconsin, so they’ll return home with even more heartache.
“Got comfortable. Got into a rhythm. Got off to that good start,” Johnson said on postgame radio. “But it comes down to we had some empty possessions. We had 16 turnovers and I think they scored 15 points off those turnovers. In a two-possession game, we just have to be able to take care of the ball better.”
Dawson Garcia, who finished with 21 points, scored a layup with five seconds left, making it 75-71 after the Gophers trailed by double digits, but the comeback effort came too late thanks to turnovers and fouls.
Isaac Asuma and Lu’Cye Patterson finished with 15 points apiece, but the Gophers shot only 35% after halftime and had 11 fouls in the second half.
For the second consecutive game, the Gophers also struggled with ball control, making 11 turnovers in the first half.
In the second half Monday, the Gophers went from a three-point halftime advantage to up 42-35 with 17 minutes, 7 seconds to play. Then defensive lapses turned into easy looks for the Terrapins (13-4, 3-3), who used a 19-6 run to take control.
“There were a couple fouls there that kind of flipped the momentum,” Johnson said. “When you’re on the road, those are the plays that really hurt you, especially when a team is feeling it.”
Femi Odukale fouled out with six points and a team-high eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
Despite picking up his third foul early in the half, Garcia remained in attack mode to keep his team from collapsing the way it did when it was outscored by 20 points in the second half against the Badgers last week.
Garcia went to the foul line six consecutive times and missed only one, keeping the Gophers close at 56-53.
The frontcourt battle between McDonald’s All-Americans Garcia at 6-11 and Queen at 6-10 was constant. But Garcia was called for his fourth foul attempting to block Queen’s dunk with nine minutes to play.
Queen followed up with a slam to put Maryland ahead 60-53 with Garcia on the bench. That margin remained until the Gophers finally gave some resistance in the paint with an emphatic putback dunk by Frank Mitchell that made it 62-57 with 6:09 left.
A week ago, the Gophers blew an opportunity for their first conference win this season with an 89-88 double-overtime loss against Ohio State at home.
They couldn’t get close enough late against the Terrapins, who took an 11-point lead when six consecutive points from Queen provided a cushion down the stretch. Queen and Rodney Rice combined for 32 points in the second half.
“We scored enough points,” Johnson said. “I thought for the majority of the game our defensive intensity and principles were pretty good. I just think it goes back to we don’t have enough to withstand those runs that teams go on.”
The last winless team in Big Ten play, the Gophers are off to their worst conference start since going 0-13 in 2014-15 under Richard Pitino. They’ll try to end the slide Thursday vs. No. 20 Michigan at Williams Arena.
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