Jamison Battle reflects as Gophers career draws to a close in Big Ten tournament

CHICAGO — Jamison Battle watched nervously from the bench Wednesday, not knowing if the final nine minutes of the Big Ten tournament opener vs. Nebraska were the last moments of his Gophers career.

It was bittersweet for Battle to not be on the court after fouling out early in the second half, but his teammates pulled out the victory to give him a chance for a different ending. Battle, though, scored only two points and had four rebounds in 36 minutes during Thursday's 70-54 season-ending loss to Maryland.

Earlier this season, Battle spoke to coach Ben Johnson about his desire to pursue a professional career after this season. He was the Gophers' second-leading scorer as a junior, but he's also graduating in May.

"We've talked a lot about it," Battle said of his pro future. "He's in my corner. I'm excited to see where that goes."

Battle had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists Wednesday before fouling out on an attempted charge call. He appeared to have his body set, which caused Johnson to receive a technical foul for arguing with the officials.

Nebraska cut an 11-point deficit in the second half, but the Gophers escaped with contributions from the freshmen and a big night from Dawson Garcia. Battle struggled in his last home game Sunday in a 71-67 loss against Wisconsin, but he tried not to dwell on his plans.

"I'm glad I was still playing," Battle said. "It never really goes through my head that this could be my last game because you stay in the moment. I think that's something that you try to do. You don't really look at the future. You don't really look at the past. You stay present where your two feet are. That's something I did."

As the Gophers' leading scorer last season, Battle's career-high scoring mark came with 39 points on 14-for-31 shooting (7-for-16 from three) last year at Maryland. That was the best individual scoring game at the Terps' Xfinity Center, which opened in 2002.

Battle began this season on the bench, though. The All-Big Ten preseason forward missed the first four games following foot surgery. He played a few games in January with a lingering back injury as well. The inconsistency weighed on him at times, but he showed the first signs of being close to returning to form with consecutive 20-point games in losses to Indiana and Northwestern in January.

Battle was held under double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career last month, but the former DeLaSalle standout erupted for a season-high 31 points in a Feb. 20 loss at Illinois.

The most memorable moment this season, though, was probably when Battle had 15 of his 20 points in the second half in a 75-74 win last week vs. Rutgers, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer. He hugged his grandmother in the stands after the emotional win. The Gophers erased a 10-point deficit in the last 64 seconds.

"We pulled together as a team," Battle said. "That's what I appreciated with this team. That's what we've done this whole season. We rallied around each other regardless of the outcome and we fought our way back."