Four Gophers takeaways: Lineup change doesn't help but Dawson Garcia's offense does

The early Gophers men's basketball schedule might not have looked that daunting on paper before the season. It ended up putting Ben Johnson's team on one of the program's longest early losing streaks in years.

The Gophers (4-6) hadn't lost five consecutive games in the first couple months of the season since 2006-07, but they weren't favored to win any of these latest games. The combined record for their opponents from the losing streak is 45-4.

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge and early Big Ten schedule were out of the U's control. The 69-51 loss Sunday against Mississippi State was the last part of the home-and-home series started two years ago.

The amount of inexperience and chemistry issues with the Gophers right now made this the worst possible time to play that tough schedule, but the players kept trying to prepare the best they could.

"That's why everybody's kind of disappointed," forward Dawson Garcia said. "We really did have the best practice the last couple practices. You can't do that just a couple times to get a result. We have to stack those days for it to pay off."

Here are four takeaways from Sunday's Mississippi State loss at the Barn:

The Bulldogs established their identity in the first year under Chris Jans to become one of the best defensive teams in the country. They entered the game ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring defense at 49.6 points per game and were as good as advertised.

Their first priority was slowing down All-Big Ten preseason forward Jamison Battle, who finished with five points on 1-for-8 shooting in 25 minutes while dealing with foul trouble.

Mississippi State also forced eight of Minnesota's 15 turnovers in the first half. And the Gophers shot only 8-for-30 (26.7%) inside the arc.

Johnson said he encouraged his players to take the first good shot they could get because the opposing defense rarely allowed the Gophers to reverse the ball.

"It's harder in a game like this that we could say we need to get this guy or that guy a touch," Johnson added. "We just tried to move it and get the first guy the best shot we could."

Garcia was the only Gophers player in double figures with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting. The rest of Minnesota's team went an atrocious 8-for-39 from the field (20.5%), including 4-for-17 from three-point range (23.5%).

From the opening tip, Garcia looked like a different player from his past few games.

The 6-11 former Prior Lake standout hit his first two jumpers of the game and his confidence continued the rest of the night. It was Garcia's second 20-point performance with the Gophers and his best game since a 23-point home debut in the 61-60 season-opening win against Western Michigan on Nov. 7.

Garcia had only 24 points combined with 2-for-10 shooting from three-point range and zero free throws in losses to Virginia Tech, Purdue and Michigan. But he nearly matched that scoring total against Mississippi State with 3-for-5 shooting from three, tying his career high. His 3-for-3 free throws Sunday were also more free throws than he attempted in the previous five games combined (four games with zero free-throw attempts).

What was the biggest difference for the North Carolina transfer? Feeling healthy was one, after battling flu-like symptoms earlier in the month.

"Just show up and play my hardest is really all I had on my mind," Garcia said. "I knew it was going to be a super-physical game. So I was trying to set [the tone] from the jump."

For the first time this season, Johnson changed the starting lineup in the backcourt with the switch from freshman Jaden Henley to senior Taurus Samuels on Sunday.

Henley had started the first nine games. Samuels went from a rarely-used reserve to averaging 21 minutes in the past three games, but he went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting with two assists in 32 minutes vs. Mississippi State.

A 6-7 California native, Henley played fewer than two minutes off the bench and took one shot.

"Experienced ballhandling more than anything," Johnson said about the move. "I thought they were really going to bring it."

Early in the second half, starting point guard Ta'Lon Cooper landed on an opposing player's foot and crumbled to the floor in pain.

Cooper ended up leaving the game because of an apparent right foot injury. He returned to the game but finished scoreless with two turnovers in 15 minutes in the second half.

"It was just a little tweak more than anything," Johnson said. "We can't afford to have anybody out. We had a couple guys cramping. Pharrel [Payne] was one of them. Taurus was one of them."