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Gophers sink to a remarkable depth vs. Huskers

A reshuffled, younger lineup did little to spark the Gophers offense.

January 13, 2016 at 12:45PM

LINCOLN, NEB. – One game after the Gophers suffered their worst-ever home loss to Northwestern, coach Richard Pitino switched up the starting lineup at Nebraska, benching his two seniors in favor of an all-freshman and sophomore first five.

But new look or not, Minnesota had no answers once again at Pinnacle Bank Arena, disintegrating in an 84-59 loss to Nebraska, matching last year's 0-5 start to Big Ten play. The defeat was the Gophers' sixth in a row and their ninth in the past 10 games. Minnesota, which never had started back-to-back conference schedules with five losses, has dropped its past two games by a total of 50 points.

As the clock ran out on the Gophers' final possession — in a game in which they trailed by 30 or more points for nearly 12 minutes of the second half — the players dropped the ball, ignoring a shot-clock violation before the buzzer.

Afterward, Pitino called the team "extremely unconfident" and said the Gophers' offensive, defensive and rebounding struggles are the "recipe to lose a lot of games."

"We've got a real problem with communication," he said. "That's why I went with that lineup … that lineup is the most connected."

Freshman Jordan Murphy said he saw teammates hanging their heads early.

"I think a lot of people are just in their own heads right now," he said. "We're not really confident in ourselves, and we need to get that back somehow … I don't know what it is. It's a very confusing situation we have."

Murphy was part of momentary spark of energy at the game's start — when seniors Joey King and Carlos Morris sat and freshmen Ahmad Gilbert and Dupree McBrayer entered the lineup — but that evaporated as soon as Nebraska pushed back.

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After the Gophers (6-11 overall) got out to an 8-4 lead, Nebraska (10-8, 2-3 Big Ten) began hitting shots and Minnesota crumbled. Plowing through the Gophers' zone defense, the Huskers reeled off a 29-4 run to seize a 33-12 lead as Minnesota stumbled over the very basics.

The Gophers committed nine turnovers in the first 12:40, some from throwing the ball out of bounds or falling on the court. With just more than five minutes before halftime, four starters had two fouls.

"We had a segment of falling down, air balls, turnovers and it was like 'What's going on here, guys?' " Pitino said. "We tried to get them to regroup, but it's hard."

For the second consecutive game, the Gophers were buried before halftime, when they trailed 47-26. The 47 points were the most Nebraska had scored in a half in a conference game since 2002. The Huskers have won their past four home games against Minnesota.

Murphy had a bounce-back game after returning to his natural power forward position, but there were few brights spots aside from his 12-point, eight-rebound performance. The rest of the team combined to shoot only 15-for-41 from the field.

The Gophers managed only seven assists on 21 field goals, went 3-for-17 from three-point range and were outrebounded 40-22.

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Nebraska continued its surge off the dribble in the second half. Pitino called a timeout with 9:17 to go and the Gophers trailing 76-40, but Jack McVeigh brought the Huskers' advantage to 38 — their greatest of the night — with a layup, but Minnesota went on a 19-6 finishing run with Nebraska's starters all on the bench.

"It stopped the bleeding," Pitino said. "You've got to stop the bleeding — try to."

Nebraska guard Tai Webster (0) drives to the basket against Minnesota guard Kevin Dorsey (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. (Francis Gardler/The Journal-Star via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; KOLN-TV OUT; KGIN-TV OUT; KLKN-TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
Nebraska guard Tai Webster drove to the basket against Gophers guard Kevin Dorsey during the first half. Webster scored nine points. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Nebraska forward Ed Morrow Jr. (30) shoots between Minnesota forward Joey King (24) and forward Jordan Murphy (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. (Francis Gardler/The Journal-Star via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; KOLN-TV OUT; KGIN-TV OUT; KLKN-TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
Nebraska forward Ed Morrow Jr. shot between Gophers forwards Joey King and Jordan Murphy. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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Amelia Rayno

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