The Gophers men’s basketball team hasn’t had the best inaugural season with head coach Ben Johnson record-wise, but they are making strides nonetheless.
After a perfect 9-0 non-conference schedule, the Gophers have run into trouble in one of the best conferences. Minnesota is just 2-9 in conference games with seven of those as double-digit losses.
However, that record doesn’t exactly tell the full story. Johnson and the Gophers have had a tough stretch in-conference, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t positives from those games.
Over the past five games, senior Luke Loewe is shooting 51% from the field and 47.6% from deep compared to 40.1% and 32.8% from three on the season. In those games, he’s also hit his season-high of 19 points twice.
Freshman Treyton Thompson is starting to get more playing time and getting important minutes in games in his young career. He scored his career-high 10 points in a win against Rutgers when he played all 40 minutes of the game.
Though the Gophers have seven double-digit losses, they are never out of those games. A first-half deficit for Minnesota doesn’t rule them out, and the team will continue to fight back. Unfortunately, the Gophers are struggling to put two full halves together.
“But with it being another example of failing to close, it is becoming who they are. It’s just not what they want to be,” Johnson said on KFAN after the loss to Iowa on Sunday.
Johnson isn’t alone in that thinking. Players know they have to be able to put together a full game to compete in a conference like the Big Ten.
“I think it’s just competing on both ends of the floor. I thought we competed offensively tonight, and I thought at times that we competed on defense. But it’s just about putting it together for that full 40 [minutes],” sophomore Jamison Battle said.
It’s a positive sign that both sides of the team are understanding the problem, and the Gophers have a favorable schedule ahead of them to get back on the right track.
Minnesota’s next two games are against Nebraska, which is currently the only team below the Gophers in the Big Ten standings. They will be on the road Wednesday to try and pick up their third win in the conference.
Saturday, the Gophers will return home to host Penn State, who is currently two games above the Gophers.
Minnesota has shown that no game is going to be an easy contest, but have shown signs that they can battle. These next two games will show a lot about what the team does against lower-ranked teams.
