With six minutes left in the first half Saturday at Nebraska, Gophers forward Jamison Battle checked out of the game to deal with back issues that resurfaced after hindering his play earlier this season.
Losing streak hits 12 as Gophers men's basketball falls at Nebraska 78-67
The Gophers set a school record by going 11-for-11 from the free-throw line but remained stuck at one win in Big Ten play.
February 26, 2023 at 5:23AM
That's all second-year Gophers coach Ben Johnson needed, was for another one of his top scorers to be dealing with an injury.
It took five games to get leading scorer Dawson Garcia back healthy from a bone bruise. Freshman guard Braeden Carrington missed seven games because of a leg injury.
Battle returned late in the first half, but the Gophers saw Carrington leave the floor limping in the second half. The health problems continued for the Gophers in their 12th consecutive loss, falling 78-67 Saturday against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb.
The Gophers (7-20, 1-16 Big Ten) set a school record by going 11-for-11 from the foul line. Garcia finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Battle and Ta'Lon Cooper tied for a team-best 12 points. The Gophers even won the rebounding battle, but they gave up 21 points on 19 turnovers.
"We did a handful of good things, but the turnovers just crushed us," Johnson said in his postgame interview. "Those are extra possessions that you lose. And they capitalized on it."
The Huskers (15-14, 8-10) had six players in double figures, led by Sam Griesel's 19 points. They swept the season series after also pulling off an 81-79 overtime win Jan. 7 at Williams Arena. Juwan Gary and Emmanuel Bandoumel were lost for the season since that earlier matchup, but coach Fred Hoiberg's club overcame its injuries.
Nebraska has won five of its past six games, including a fourth in a row Saturday. Hoiberg has doubled last year's Big Ten win total in his fourth season. He also has the program's most conference victories since 2017-18 under Tim Miles.
"Let me give credit to Ben Johnson," Hoiberg told local media postgame. "He's continued to get those guys to compete at a high level. They're in a heck of a stretch right now. … Their preparation probably wasn't a lot coming into this one, but those guys keep coming."
Minnesota's only Big Ten win this season followed the nail-biting loss to Nebraska at home. That came over struggling Ohio State, 70-67 on Jan. 12. The Gophers likely have only two regular-season games left. They play at home Thursday vs. Rutgers and Sunday vs. Wisconsin. Their postponed Michigan State game hasn't been rescheduled.
In the second half Saturday, the Gophers faced a 52-38 deficit but answered with a three-point shooting barrage from Battle, Cooper, Carrington and Jaden Henley.
Henley scored all of his 11 points in the second half, including a three to pull Minnesota within 58-52 with 7:28 left. But Nebraska's Griesel responded with a spinning layup to ignite a 16-9 run.
With just under four minutes remaining, Carrington appeared to collide with a Huskers player and needed help to the bench with his left knee in pain.
The Gophers were within seven points several times in the last few minutes, including before a crazy sequence with 1:44 left.
Nebraska walk-on Sam Hoiberg saved the ball from going out of bounds before the Gophers forced a miss on defense. Henley's block was tipped back. And Hoiberg outhustled three players for the ball and scored to make it 68-59. That summed up what has been a tough week for the Gophers.
In the midst of losing three straight road games during the week, the Gophers suffered a huge blow when their top 2023 recruit Dennis Evans III officially asked out of his letter of intent on Friday.
Johnson has declined to address Evans' situation. But the Gophers will be relieved to be home for a bit. They stayed on the road to play Monday at Illinois and Wednesday at Maryland. After returning to Minneapolis for 12 hours Thursday, they flew to Lincoln on Friday.
"We knew it was going to be a long week," Johnson said. "Nebraska's one of the hottest teams in the league. Obviously, it's never easy to play here. I thought it was a small victory [his players] didn't stop and kept showing up. We continue to talk about you've got to give yourself a chance."
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
Sophia Boman and Sophia Romine scored second-half goals as the Gophers advanced to the third round for only the third time in program history.
