With the Gophers coming off an 83-60 loss at Northwestern that dropped them to 2-3 in conference play, the road doesn’t get any easier for Minnesota.
The Gophers host No. 5 Purdue on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road trip of sorts with games at Penn State, at Maryland and against Ohio State at Madison Square Garden in a neutral-site “Super Saturday” Big Ten showcase.
After losing starters Reggie Lynch and Amir Coffey and dropping two games in a row, a non-home “home” game is the last thing head coach Richard Pitino wanted.
The Gophers will need big contributions from senior Nate Mason and junior Jordan Murphy to get back on track. The tandem combined for just 17 points in Wednesday’s loss to the Wildcats.
They talked about how Pitino got the team refocused after their most lopsided loss of the season.
