Four things learned in Gophers men’s basketball’s loss to Northwestern to end regular season

EVANSTON, Ill. – The Gophers men’s basketball team went on the road hoping for a bounce-back win Saturday night to end the regular season, but Northwestern looked more intense.

The Wildcats not only were trying to stay in contention for a second consecutive NCAA tournament berth, they were playing without two injured senior starters on Senior Day.

All-America candidate Boo Buie excelled in his final home game at Welsh-Ryan Arena with 15 of his 23 points in the second half. Fellow senior Ryan Langborg had 16 points. They seemed to be playing for Ty Berry and Matt Nicholson, who were sidelined because of injuries.

“They did a good job of playing with emotion,” Gophers coach Ben Johnson said of the Wildcats, who rolled to a 90-66 victory. “They got the crowd behind them early because they made shots. I just thought they had a desire and a will. You could tell they’re a team that’s going to try get back on the winning side of things.”

Johnson’s team will try to get back on the winning track as the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament playing 11 a.m. Thursday against No. 8 seed Michigan State in the second round at Target Center. Winner plays the early game Friday against No. 1 seed Purdue.

Here are four things learned from Saturday’s regular-season-ending loss in Evanston:

In the last six losses, the Gophers (18-13, 9-11 Big Ten) are allowing their opponents to average 85.3 points per game and shoot 51.4% from the field.

That’s obviously not what winning defense looks like, especially when it’s even tougher to be able to match that scoring pace in tough road environments.

“We’ve got to get over the hump,” Johnson said about the Gophers, who allowed the Wildcats (21-10, 12-8) to shoot 59% from the field, including 10-for-18 from three-point range.

In years past, Big Ten teams were able to feel confident about playing at Northwestern and Nebraska, but not anymore. The Gophers lost those two games by a combined 42 points — their two largest margins of defeat in conference play this season.

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The Wildcats looked like offensive juggernauts with a season-high 53 points in the first half on 70% shooting. Johnson was disappointed the Gophers couldn’t cut into a 12-point halftime deficit. Consecutive stops were nowhere to be found Saturday night.

“That’s been a hurdle the past couple games,” he said. “It’s really hard when you’re just trading baskets. That only lasts for so long.”

One thing that travels well for the Gophers is Dawson Garcia’s offensive game.

He scored 30 points and shot 13-for-19 from the field Saturday, adding nine rebounds. It was his third 30-point game this season, including the second time in a road game.

The 6-11 junior averaged 21.5 points and 7.2 rebounds and shot 51% from the field and 38% from three-point range in 11 games away from home this season. Unfortunately for the Gophers, they went 2-9 in those games.

It was obvious Garcia came to play Saturday when he scored 12 of the team’s first 15 points. His only three-pointer of the game pulled the Gophers to within 17-15 with 12:24 to play. Parker Fox’s dunk made it 23-20 midway through the first half, but Northwestern pulled away with a 21-10 run.

“We beat these guys by nine points in overtime earlier this season,” Garcia said. “We still want to put ourselves in position to have a special end to the season. I still believe in this group.”

Sophomore Braeden Carrington didn’t seem to be too rusty offensively in his return Saturday after missing two games because of a concussion.

The former Park Center standout had eight of the team’s 12 bench points, shooting 2-for-4 from three-point range in 19 minutes.

Carrington’s second three-pointer cut Minnesota’s deficit to 72-61 with just under seven minutes to play, but the Gophers’ defensive issues kept them from getting any closer. Northwestern hit its final six shots of the game to finish on an 18-5 run.

Even with Carrington back, the Gophers still weren’t at full strength. Sophomore forward Joshua Ola-Joseph missed his second game while recovering from concussion-like symptoms.

With several friends and family in attendance at Northwestern, Gophers freshman Cam Christie was the last player to leave the court late Saturday night, but the homecoming was bittersweet.

Christie is a lock to earn All-Big Ten freshman honors this season. His chance at Big Ten freshman of the year faded with a rough end to the regular season.

In his last two games, the 6-6 guard scored just eight points and shot 2-for-19 from the field, including 2-for-12 from three. His only scoreless game of the season came Saturday on 0-for-6 shooting against Northwestern in 26 minutes.

Christie averaged nearly 19 points during a recent three-game stretch that made him a strong candidate to beat out Iowa’s Owen Freeman as the league’s top freshman.

Elijah Hawkins tried to carry the U’s backcourt with 14 points and 10 assists Saturday, but he also had five turnovers attempting to do too much at times.