Four things learned in Gophers men's basketball's big win at Michigan

Ben Johnson didn't need to quench his thirst after Saturday's 75-65 win at Michigan. Players took care of that for him by emptying their water bottles on him in the locker room after his first Big Ten victory.

In Johnson's first nine games as the Gophers men's basketball coach, he's only lost once and has a 5-0 record away from home, including three true road wins.

This isn't last season during the pandemic when the crowds were minimal to none with COVID-19 restrictions erasing the homecourt advantage and atmosphere for many teams.

Winning on the road this year is as tough as it's typically been, but Johnson's Gophers have made it look pretty easy so far. They snapped the program's 12-game losing streak in true road games in the Nov. 30 win at Pittsburgh and never looked back.

"Our sole focus in the second half was to come out and be the aggressor," Johnson said about his team trailing 36-32 at halftime. "We felt like if we did that, we would put ourselves in position to have a chance to win the game."

The Gophers (8-1), who host Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Tuesday, won't play on the road again until after the Big Ten season resumes Jan. 2 vs. Illinois at Williams Arena. They'll really put that road warrior mentality to the test playing at Indiana and Michigan State in back-to-back games Jan. 9 and Jan 12.

Here are four things learned in the Gophers' first Big Ten win under Johnson on Saturday at Michigan:

Brilliant Battle

If you don't see sophomore Jamison Battle in rhythm offensively in the second half just wait. It's only a matter of time. The 6-7 George Washington transfer has made a name for himself among the Big Ten's top scorers this year by taking over with his flammable outside shooting during stretches.

On Saturday, the Wolverines were leading by four points, but senior guard Payton Willis outscored them 7-2 to open the second half to help the Gophers take the lead.

Willis, who was Big Ten player of the week a week ago, was Robin to Battle's Batman against Michigan, though. With Battle making sure the Wolverines stayed down. They cut it to 41-40, but Battle had 15 of his 21 second-half points during a 25-10 run that stretched Minnesota's lead to 66-50 after his jumper at the 6:22 mark.

You can tell the former DeLaSalle standout plays with a chip on his shoulder that not many people thought he and other U transfers could keep playing well in the Big Ten. Battle, Willis, Luke Loewe, and E.J. Stephens combined for 71 of the team's 75 points Saturday.

"We didn't really care," Battle said. "We supposedly have low major guys coming in here playing in a high major Big Ten. We don't care. We could care less. We got so many different weapons."

Post D by committee

The box score will show Michigan's Hunter Dickinson had 19 points on 9-for-15 shooting and 10 rebounds. That doesn't tell the whole story about how well he was defended after a strong first half.

Dickinson, who leads his team in scoring and rebounding, was on his way with a monster evening with 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half. The All-Big Ten center was scoring at the rim and sinking jumpers, but the Gophers came out of halftime with a plan to strategy to limit him.

It was a big deal to hold the Wolverines to 3-for-18 shooting from three-point range, especially after Juwan Howard's team nailed 15 threes while scoring 100-plus points in the Big Ten opener vs. Nebraska.

But much credit goes to Minnesota's senior Eric Curry and his teammates for not losing the physical toughness battle with 7-1, 260-pound Dickinson, 6-10 freshman Moussa Diabate and 6-9 Brandon Johns.

There were multiple defenders on Dickinson in the blink of an eye with relentless pressure. The Gophers also got bodies on him to keep him off the boards. He finished just 2-for-7 in the second half. Diabate had 13 rebounds. But Dickinson, Diabate, and Johns combined for just seven second-half points.

Post defense by committee also worked in the U's 81-76 win at Mississippi State. Bulldogs' 6-11 senior Tolu Smith, who averaged 15 points, was held to seven points on 3-for-9 shooting with three turnovers.

It doesn't get any easier. The biggest challenges in the paint are still to come for Curry, backup center Charlie Daniels and company. The Gophers face 7-foot, 290-pound Illinois All-American Kofi Cockburn when Big Ten play resumes Jan. 2 at Williams Arena and Indiana's All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis on Jan. 9 in Bloomington.

Clutch free throws

Remember when the Gophers missed 14 free throws that nearly cost them the game in an 87-80 double overtime win against Princeton in the Asheville Championship last month?

That really seems like half a season ago the way Johnson's players have stepped up to make crucial late free throws in three of their true road wins this season. Yes, the Gophers missed five foul shots in the second half in Saturday's win, but they hit them in critical moments.

The Wolverines cut a 16-point deficit to 68-62, but Battle and Willis responded going 7-for-8 from the foul line in the last 1:12 to seal the upset, including five straight at one point.

Entering the game ranked last in free throws made in the Big Ten, the Gophers were 11-for-16 at the line, which was a sign they were not just settling for jump shots.

Turnover free zone

It was so uncharacteristic to see the Gophers commit turnovers on two 10-second violations not crossing half court late in Saturday's win at Michigan.

The Wolverines are known for creating havoc defensively with their 3/4 court pressure, but they actually hadn't been able to fluster much before that point. Minnesota had just TWO TURNOVERS with 3 ½ minutes left in the game and finished with four. Wow.

The Gophers average just 8.3 turnovers per game, tied for first in Division I and the Big Ten with Iowa through nine games. But they've been even better than that recently. In the last three games, they're averaging just 3.7 turnovers with 11 combined. The closest team in college basketball in that stretch is Duke at 6.0. Impressive.