Gophers fall to Wake Forest in men’s basketball after defense again keeps them in the game

ORLANDO – Gophers fans were getting restless in the crowd Friday, waiting to see when the scoring drought would end in the second half against Wake Forest, but this was an all-too-familiar sight.

No matter what kinds of schemes Gophers coach Ben Johnson seems to come up with, his team is the opposite of an offensive masterpiece, which has been a major stumbling block this season.

With a defensive identity, the Gophers have been competitive in every game, regardless of the shooting woes. That continued Friday afternoon against one of the top teams in the ACC, but not enough offense when it mattered most led to a 57-51 loss.

The Gophers (5-3) were held scoreless from the field in the last 2 minutes, 34 seconds to seal their second straight loss. They were a three-pointer away from playing in the ESPN Events Invitational championship against Florida, but they suffered a 68-66 overtime loss against Wichita State on Thanksgiving.

“We’re painfully figuring that out,” Johnson said about the cost of inconsistent offense. “I thought our defense, though, yesterday and today has proven this is a top-40 or top-30 defense. We got to be able to show up with offense and free throws.”

On Friday, freshman Isaac Asuma finished with a career-high 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Lu’Cye Patterson, who made the all-tournament team, scored eight of his team-high 12 points in the first half, but the Gophers shot 3-for-18 from three-point range and 6-for-15 on free throws in the game.

“We just have to keep doing what we’re supposed to do and keep our level of defensive play up,” Patterson said. “It’s going to win us a lot of games. The offense is going to come.”

The Demon Deacons (7-2), who were picked to finish third in the ACC preseason poll, trailed 29-27 at halftime, but they outscored Minnesota 11-4 to take a 38-33 lead after Tre’Von Spillers finished an alley-oop early in the second half. Spillers finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Asuma’s three-pointer and Patterson’s jumper on back-to-back possessions pulled the Gophers within a point twice midway through the second half, but Wake Forest answered.

The largest lead of the game for either team came when the Deacons went up 48-41 with just under eight minutes to play.

With 5½ minutes remaining, Parker Fox had Gophers faithful in attendance on their feet after slamming an alley-oop to make it 48-47. The momentum didn’t swing enough.

Dawson Garcia cut the deficit to 54-51 with a layup at the 2:35 mark. The Gophers didn’t score again.

“You could just see we’re right there with all of these teams,” Patterson said. “It’s not a big gap. Of course, we’re missing some guys that we need. That’s not even an excuse.”

Garcia, who averages 20 points, was shut down for a second straight game with eight points on 3-for-12 shooting. On Thursday against Wichita State, Garcia had the lowest-scoring game of his Gophers career when healthy with four points before fouling out.

BOXSCORE: Wake Forest 57, Gophers 51

“I thought we had some good looks, especially in the second half,” Johnson said. “Early, we had a couple bunnies at the rim that didn’t fall. We recovered from that, but it’s a detail thing from start to finish. To win games against [tougher teams], you have to hone in on those details.”

For the sixth time this season, the Gophers played in a game decided by six points or fewer, and they’re 3-3 in those games. Next on the schedule is Wednesday against Michigan State at home to open early Big Ten play.

Minnesota’s losses to North Texas, Wichita State and now Wake Forest aren’t bad. Those are all top-100 teams nationally, according to Ken Pomeroy’s advanced efficiency stats. With a schedule lacking many quality nonconference games at home, though, the Gophers fell short of NCAA tournament résumé victories in two prime opportunities in Orlando.