Hurting Gophers sink to a harsh low in men’s basketball loss to North Texas

Six players were dealing with injuries or illness for the Gophers men’s basketball team this week, including starters Mike Mitchell Jr. and Dawson Garcia.

So Gophers coach Ben Johnson knew Wednesday’s game could be the toughest so far, but he didn’t know how ugly it could get.

An atrocious offensive performance in the first half against North Texas had the Gophers scoring just 14 points and trailing by nine at halftime after shooting 3-for-21.

The worst shooting half in years drew jeers from the Williams Arena crowd and was too much to overcome as the Gophers fell 54-51.

BOXSCORE: North Texas 54, Gophers 51

“It was like the misses were just becoming deflating,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you get great looks, and they just don’t fall. We’ve got to work on still being a confident team. Still being able to make that next play.”

Mitchell, the team’s starting point guard, was out with an ankle injury. Garcia missed practice because of a groin injury, but he still finished with 24 points and eight rebounds Wednesday.

“Shots that normally go in just didn’t go in,” Garcia said. “Sometimes in basketball, you’ve got to find different ways to win, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

The Gophers were positioned to pull out their second straight comeback victory after Garcia scored on an offensive rebound with less than 30 seconds left to make it 52-51. But after North Texas missed a free throw, Lu’Cye Patterson’s three-point attempt to give the Gophers the lead fell short with eight seconds to play.

The Mean Green appeared to travel after grabbing the defensive rebound. But while fans were still arguing the no-call, the Gophers gave up a transition dunk that sealed the game.

It was the first home nonconference loss for the Gophers against an opponent from outside of the major conferences since they lost to Milwaukee on Dec. 23, 2015. They trailed at halftime against Nebraska Omaha last weekend before pulling it out 68-64.

“Just a couple plays here and there,” Garcia said. “That’s all it is.”

The Gophers (2-1) were facing an uphill battle after a 12-minute field-goal drought that left them trailing by 11 points in the first half. They opened 1-for-17 from the field until Garcia’s first basket on a putback cut it to 21-12 with 3:15 left before halftime.

Last season, the lowest-scoring first half for the Gophers was 20 points in a 73-55 loss at Nebraska.

The Gophers shot 31% from the field Wednesday, their lowest field-goal percentage in a game since shooting 29% in a loss to Mississippi State in 2022, at home.

It’s one thing to be shut down by a Nebraska team that reached the NCAA tournament, but North Texas was projected to finish near the bottom of the American Athletic Conference this season.

The Gophers outscored North Texas in the second half 37-31. Following two three-pointers from Garcia, Patterson drilled his first shot from beyond the arc to make it 32-30. Trey Edmonds and Garcia both scored four straight points to tie it at 38-38.

A Brennan Rigsby three-pointer gave the Gophers their first lead of the game, 43-42, with 7 minutes, 27 seconds to play, but the Mean Green answered with an 8-0 run to pull ahead for good.

Garcia shot 6-for-9 from the field and 10-for-10 on free throws Wednesday. But Patterson was the No. 2 scorer with nine points on 3-for-14 shooting. The Gophers had 13 turnovers and were 6-for-23 on three-pointers.

Entering Wednesday, the Gophers, UCLA and Washington were the only Big Ten teams with fewer than two players averaging double figures for the season. Garcia was the only double-figure scorer for Minnesota at 27 points per game.

Canisius transfer Frank Mitchell made his season debut Wednesday after missing the first two games because of a shoulder injury, but he was limited to 14 minutes.

Mike Mitchell Jr.’s absence and having others not ready to contribute will continue to put pressure on the Gophers to even beat smaller conference foes. Another test awaits Saturday against Yale at home.

“Missing Mike was huge,” Edmonds said. “But we were confident coming into the game that we’d be OK, regardless. I still think that game was super winnable — even with the injuries we have.”