ANN ARBOR, MICH. – The Gophers men's basketball team hadn't really been taken seriously this season, even after a 7-0 start, especially after suffering its first loss to open Big Ten play.
Gophers men's basketball wins on the road at Michigan, 75-65
The Gophers are now 8-1 on the season after Saturday night's Big Ten road win over the Wolverines. Jamison Battle finished with 27 points to lead the charge.
December 12, 2021 at 4:45AM
But there was rookie coach Ben Johnson and his underdog Gophers celebrating their first Big Ten victory Saturday night on the road after proving doubters wrong again by beating Michigan 75-65. It was the program's first victory in Ann Arbor since 2011.
"We know this is the best league in the country," Johnson said. "If you want to win any game, especially on the road, you've got to play your best."
Jamison Battle, who scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Gophers (8-1), nailed a jumper with 6:19 to play, keeping the Crisler Center crowd silent as Minnesota's lead grew to 16 points during an 11-0 run in the second half.
Not until the Wolverines' late comeback attempt was thwarted, though, did fans start exiting before the game was over. They had seen enough of the Big Ten's biggest surprise team.
"When we come out here, we want to be road warriors," Battle said. "That's a big thing we talk about. There's a sign in the locker room that says, 'Roadkill.' We don't care if we're on the road or at home we want to win the game. We bring energy every single game like we're going to win, regardless of the score."
The Gophers lost for the first time this season Wednesday, 75-67 to No. 19 Michigan State at Williams Arena, but they left with their heads high after nearly erasing a 19-point deficit.
The confidence from facing their first ranked and Big Ten opponent carried over Saturday. The Gophers came out firing after trailing 36-32 at halftime.
Luke Loewe and Battle sank back-to-back three-pointers early in the second half for a 47-40 lead against the Wolverines, who had relied on inside scoring to take control to open the game.
Michigan 7-1 center Hunter Dickinson scored 19 points, but he struggled to have the same impact in the second half, going 2-for-7 from the field while facing swarming defenders in the post.
Dickinson made a jumper to cut Minnesota's advantage to 55-50 midway through the second half, but Battle drove the lane and scored to start the game-changing rally. Payton Willis' three and Loewe's reverse layup followed before Battle scored again on consecutive possessions to put Minnesota ahead 66-50.
The Wolverines scored the next 10 points, with Dickinson's three-point play making it 66-60 with 3:55 remaining, but E.J. Stephens responded with a runner to keep Michigan from getting its fans going.
On Wednesday, the Barn crowd had helped to spark a second-half Gophers comeback, but the players drew their own energy on the road Saturday. The Gophers had experience winning away from home at Pittsburgh and Mississippi State, the program's first back-to-back true road victories since 2017.
"Those were two big Power Five wins on the road," Stephens said. "That's kind of our identity now. We come into opposing team's buildings and we do what we do. We don't conform to how they want us to play."
Michigan forced two 10-second violations in keeping the Gophers from crossing midcourt late in the second half, but that wasn't enough to escape the upset.
The defending Big Ten champion Wolverines (6-4) have fallen hard from No. 4 in the Associated Press poll in Week 2 to well out of the Top 25, including losses to Seton Hall, Arizona and North Carolina.
The Wolverines sank 15 three-pointers in a 102-67 victory at Nebraska in Tuesday's Big Ten opener. But facing one of the nation's best three-point defenses Saturday, the result was the Gophers holding them to 3-for-18 from long distance.
Willis, Loewe, and Stephens combined for 44 points for the Gophers, who controlled the pace and slowed the tempo, committing only four turnovers. They entered the game ranked third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally with 8.9 per game.
"We don't care necessarily where we play," Johnson said. "We love to battle and we love to compete. I think our guys really focus in on that and we have bought into that we don't ever want it to end."
Sam Rinzel had two of the Gophers’ three power play goals against the Irish.
