The Gophers headed east for their first true road test of the season on Monday at Indiana. Minnesota struggled in an 82-67 blowout loss to the Hoosiers, falling to 6-5 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play.
Monday was the first game that Gophers’ guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (ankle) was off the injury report since Dec. 9 and he returned to the starting lineup for the first time since he was injured that day against Omaha.
Minnesota came out strong and started hot offensively, leading Indiana 22-20 at the 11:42 mark of the first half. The Hoosiers proceeded to go on a 13-1 lead and never looked back. The Gophers struggled to get back into the game.
The halftime deficit was 44-31 and Mitchell Jr. was the only Gophers player to make a three-point attempt, making both of his two attempts from beyond the arc. Indiana shot a whopping 63% from the field in the first half, in one of Minnesota’s worst defensive showings of the season.
21 seconds of Dawson Garcia doing what he does 🪣
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/QNlIOMHf3l
— Minnesota Men’s Basketball (@GopherMBB) December 9, 2024
Indiana’s vast NIL budget has given them one of the most talented rosters in the country and it showed on Monday night. The talent difference was staggering between the Hoosiers and Gophers roster. Dawson Garcia looked like an All-Big Ten player with a game-high 22 points, but outside of that, Minnesota seriously struggled to compete with Indiana.
Minnesota’s offense has looked better with Mitchell Jr. back in the lineup, but the defense has taken a massive step back in both games against Michigan State and Indiana. There was no team that had scored more than 68 points against the Gophers through their first nine games, but the Spartans scored 90 last week and then the Hoosiers just put up 82 in a 15-point win.
The Gophers will now have 12 days off before hosting Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21. Their final non-conference game will take place on Dec. 29 against Morgan State before full-time Big Ten play begins on Jan. 2.
