Minnesota's struggles could be seen plainly in Andre Hollins' face.
The Gophers' best talker, best analyzer, best explainer – was out of words, reasons and explanations.
After five losses that could be boil down to two major problems, how do you find new or patient ways to discuss the same old story?
We beat ourselves again, that's it – that's all I'll say," a clearly frustrated Hollins said. "We just need to get some continuity going offensively. We're just standing around sometimes and I guess we're getting well-scouted, I guess that it. And I don't know."
A confounded offense and an affinity for turnovers. The cock and trigger.
Tonight was a new night, a different arena than the Gophers have played in this season – but the mistakes were the same. In the half-court, the Gophers were off-balance, standing around, allowing the Spartans to take away their inside game, forcing shots, settling for bad passes. Minnesota had 12 turnovers, which Michigan State cashed in for 19 points.
So no, statistically the Gophers haven't played themselves into the bottom half of the Big Ten or a NCAA tournament miss or anything like that. But the fact that through the losses, through the season so far, nothing has been significantly changed or adjusted from those standpoints – those are the things that are concerning for a team with a recent history of league collapses.
Notes on tonight's 61-50 loss at Michigan State:
