Luke Loewe and Jamison Battle combine for 45 points in Gophers' win against Northwestern

Playing shorthanded was something the Gophers men's basketball team had more experience than most of the Big Ten this season.

There where games last month when several players were sidelined at once with injury or illness, including three starters out in the win against Rutgers.

Gophers coach Ben Johnson reminded his squad at Saturday's shootaround, "we have been here before," when they found out starting point guard Payton Willis would not play against Northwestern due to COVID-19 protocol.

Despite missing one of the Big Ten's top scorers and playmakers, the Gophers got an extra boost with eight first-half three-pointers and Luke Loewe and Jamison Battle combining for 45 points in a 77-60 victory Saturday against the Wildcats at Williams Arena.

"I wanted them to have confidence," Johnson said about mentioning the Rutgers win. "I wanted them to be loose and realize the pressure is not on us. The only pressure they had was to play hard, execute details, play the right way – that's it. If you do that the score will take care of itself."

The Gophers (13-12, 4-12 Big Ten) already won without leading scorer Battle, Eric Curry, and E.J. Stephens on Jan. 22 against the Scarlet Knights, but Willis had career-high 32 points on eight threes that day.

Playing without Willis for the first time this season Saturday, Minnesota saw Loewe have his best game since transferring to Minnesota, finishing with 24 points and seven assists. Battle had 21 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists for the Gophers, who jumped out early and led by as many as 21 points in the first half.

"Obviously when guys are down there's an opportunity for guys to step up," said Loewe, who tied a career high with 6-for-10 shooting from three. "I think everyone was playing well today, playing together as a team and having a lot of fun moving the ball."

Minnesota's players were feeling the opposite of fun after a 67-46 loss at Penn State on Thursday. It was a surprising outcome after beating the Nittany Lions 76-70 at the Barn last weekend. The Gophers scored fewer than 50 points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2014, including the 70-45 loss Tuesday at Ohio State.

But the Gophers nearly eclipsed those scoring totals from both previous games with a 43-27 halftime lead Saturday. They shot 57%, including 8-for-13 from three, in the first half.

In the second half, the Wildcats threatened with a brief rally getting within 47-40 after Chase Audige's layup, but Loewe answered with his fourth basket from long distance.

Three minutes later, the William & Mary transfer scored on a step-back jumper for another three to spark another Minnesota run. Battle, a George Washington transfer, scored a wide open layup on an inbounds pass from Loewe to make it 63-42 with 9:28 to play. Loewe and Battle accounted for 23 of Minnesota's 34 points in the second half.

During a stretch of four games in seven days, Johnson noticed his players were lacking energy and fight, especially not returning home between Ohio State and Penn State road games.

Senior captains Willis and Eric Curry were under the weather during the trip, but Curry battled through flu-like symptoms Saturday to start at center against the Wildcats.

To help Curry defensively, the Gophers used their zone defense about 99% of the time and held Northwestern to 37% shooting, but their offensive outburst without Willis was the story of the game.

The Gophers hope their 56% shooting, 11 threes and 22 assists Saturday will give them momentum going into the last two home games this season, against Wisconsin on Wednesday and Indiana on Sunday.