Souhan: Gophers men blow their chance at pivotal victory against Maryland

After Maryland reserve guard David Coit hit an off-the-dribble three-pointer to give his team the lead with 26 seconds remaining, the Gophers decided not to call a timeout.

Point guard Isaac Asuma brought the ball up the court and found Jaylen Crocker-Johnson in the right corner.

Crocker-Johnson, the Gophers’ best inside player, bulled his way to the basket, used the glass … and watched the ball trickle off the rim.

That was the Gophers’ last, best chance to win the game and perhaps to make a late-season run toward something special.

The Gophers would lose 67-62 to the Terrapins on Sunday, Feb. 8, at Williams Arena, ruining what could have been a promising day for Minnesota basketball.

After letting Gophers legend Lindsay Whalen go as women’s coach in 2023, athletic director Mark Coyle said, regarding his two basketball programs: “We have to figure it out. We have everything in place. There is no reason why it can’t be done here.”

There is evidence he might have figured it out.

Then the Gophers men played most of the second half with the lead before faltering offensively down the stretch, losing a game that could have set them on an intriguing path.

They haven’t qualified for March Madness since 2019. They entered the game at 4-8 in the Big Ten but having just defeated No. 10 Michigan State, their most impressive victory for first-year coach Niko Medved.

A victory over Maryland would have made the Gophers 5-8 and given them two reasons for hope:

1. The Gophers have demonstrated the ability to beat good teams. They have beaten three teams that were ranked when they played them — Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.

2. They have an easy schedule. Their next three games — at Washington, at Oregon, and home against Rutgers — are eminently winnable. Washington, Oregon and Rutgers have a combined seven conference victories.

That’s why this one hurt.

“We just didn’t play the way we wanted to,” forward Bobby Durkin said.

“We talk about shutting off their water earlier, taking away their rhythm, and we weren’t able to do that, which made those shots at the end of the game a lot easier for them,” Asuma said.

“I knew this was going to be a close game,” Medved said. “All of them are, right? And we just didn’t play with enough force on either end.”

The Gophers took a 33-32 halftime lead on the strength of their three-point shooting. They shot 50% from the three-point arc and just 43% from the field overall and 56% from the free-throw line.

Asuma would finish with a team-best 18 points. He entered the game shooting 29.5% from the three-point arc this season. He finished the game 6-for-9 on threes, a promising development in a disappointing game.

“It’s hard to make 14 threes and lose,” Medved said.

The past two games tell the Gophers’ story.

They are cohesive and well-coached enough to pull off big upsets.

They are not deep or talented enough to win when they do not play with an edge.