Gophers men’s basketball team falls to last-place Washington

Ben Johnson emphasized how much his Gophers men’s basketball team needed to keep the underdog mentality Saturday with Washington arriving on a six-game losing streak.

Johnson reminded his players that everyone picked the Gophers to finish last in the league, but they were favored in this game for the first time in Big Ten play.

After the high of two straight home wins against ranked opponents, the Gophers suffered a letdown by failing to match Washington’s desperation in a 71-68 loss Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 9,202 at Williams Arena.

“They’re so similar to how we were,” Johnson said about the Huskies. “Their record isn’t a reflection of who they are as a team or as players. They’re better than that.”

Dawson Garcia, who finished with a game-high 28 points, scored 14 in a row in one second-half stretch and helped the Gophers erase a 10-point halftime deficit. He brought the Gophers within 67-66 with 12 seconds remaining in the game on a spinning layup.

But D.J. Davis and Mekhi Mason hit four free throws in the last 9.7 seconds to seal Washington’s first conference road win.

“They were in desperation mode,” said Garcia, who had 23 second-half points but also missed a free throw with seven seconds to play. “In the first half, we didn’t have enough urgency. You can’t put yourself in a hole like that.”

There were signs of improvement after several lopsided losses during a 0-6 Big Ten start, but first-half scoring struggles plagued the Gophers in the past two games.

“It’s hard to get into a rhythm when the ball isn’t moving,” Johnson said. “That’s been an issue for us.”

The Huskies (11-10, 2-8) got 23 points from Tyler Harris, 15 in the first half. Great Osobor provided 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Washington scored 18 points on Minnesota’s 15 turnovers.

After Garcia picked up his second foul in the first half, Isaac Asuma did his best to keep the score close with all of his eight points, but the Gophers still trailed 40-30 at halftime.

Garcia came alive in the second half to get his seventh straight 20-point game, but he didn’t get much help on offense.

Not long ago, the Gophers were a hungry, winless Big Ten team. Garcia nailed a buzzer-beater to beat Michigan in overtime on Jan. 16, but the key to that upset and others was also backcourt play.

Patterson and Mike Mitchell Jr. combined for 42 points against the Wolverines. Patterson, Mitchell and Odukale also combined for 29 points in last week’s victory against No. 15 Oregon.

On Saturday, Patterson and Mitchell had just 10 points combined.

Odukale noticed the lack of ball movement.

“When we’ve been winning, we always swing it both sides,” Odukale said. “Sometimes we got uncharacteristic.”

The Gophers were right behind them with the second-toughest conference slate, but playing Washington at home is the easiest it will get. Even Tuesday’s game at Penn State, 3-8 in the Big Ten, sets up as more difficult.