It’s been a chaotic couple of days for the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball program.
News broke late Thursday night that senior Reggie Lynch was facing suspension for an alleged sexual assault in May of 2016. That initiated an uncomfortable press conference on Friday morning, during which athletic director Mark Coyle and head coach Richard Pitino did their best to defend the integrity of the program — a program that dealt with myriad distractions during the 2015-16 season and was believed to be turning a corner.
The off-court news cast a shadow over Saturday’s game between the Gophers and Indiana Hoosiers.
And the on-court product clearly suffered as Minnesota was outmuscled inside, missed two key free throws late and fell by a 75-71 score.
“Adversity has hit right now,” said Pitino, “and we’ve got to get these guys to continue to believe in each other.”
The already-shorthanded Gophers were also without starter Amir Coffey, who suffered an HAGL lesion in Wednesday’s win over Illinois. With a starting lineup that included Bakary Konate and Michael Hurt in Lynch and Coffey’s spots, the Gophers replaced a combined 24.2 points per game with 4.3.
Hurt and Konate combined for two points and five turnovers in the loss.
The Gophers put forth a strong effort, however, despite the mounting obstacles. Minnesota turned a nine-point first half deficit into a five-point lead with under four minutes to go, but Indiana closed the game on a 13-4 run. Freshman Justin Smith hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:30 to go that gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 71-70.
The Gophers had two chances to tie or take the lead at the free-throw line in the final two minutes, but Dupree McBrayer missed the first of two fouls shots with 52 seconds remaining, then Jordan Murphy missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25 seconds left.
After a pair of free throws by Robert Johnson, who finished with a career-high 28 points, Nate Mason and Murphy both rushed — and missed — 3-pointers that could have tied the game.
“That was not great execution, certainly,” said Pitino, who decided not to call a timeout before the key possession.
Though the outside shooting faltered in the clutch, the inside effort was lacking most of the game. Without Lynch, the Gophers struggled mightily in the paint.
Minnesota (13-4, 2-2) allowed a season-high 17 offensive rebounds and were outscored by eight in second-chance points (17-9) and points in the paint (34-26).
Indiana (9-7, 2-2) outrebounded them 45-35 overall, even though they were missing 6-foot-10 center De’Ron Davis.
“It was definitely a lot different [without Lynch],” said Indiana junior Juwan Morgan, “just because it took away a shot-blocking presence for them, and I think it really opened up some driving lanes and also some rebounding opportunities for us.”
The Gophers got another big performance from point guard Nate Mason, who finished with 22 points and nine assists, but he missed a short jumper in the paint that would’ve given Minnesota the lead with under two minutes to go.
Dupree McBrayer and Murphy each added 18 points. Murphy secured his 17th straight double-double on a rebound with eight seconds left to tie Tim Duncan for the NCAA record to begin a season.
But aside from the three Ms — Murphy, Mason and McBrayer — the Gophers only got a combined 13 points from three other players.
With Lynch out indefinitely and Coffey facing a multi-week rehab, Pitino has a formidable coaching job ahead.
“You’ve got guys playing different positions that they’re not used to playing,” Pitinos said. “The more that we practice it, the more that we play in it, we’ll get more comfortable with it.”
Stats to Think About
- Juwan Morgan had made just 17 3-point shots in his career — and never more than one in a game — until Saturday, when he went 3 for 4.
- Indiana matched its season low in field-goal percentage at 40 percent (22 for 55).
- It was just the third time this season that Minnesota has been beaten on the boards (Oral Roberts, Nebraska).
Up Next
The Gophers hit the road to face Northwestern (10-7, 1-3), Wednesday at 8 p.m.
