Gopher Basketball Drops ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Boston College

Trailing by one point at the half, Minnesota went ice cold as Boston College beat Minnesota 56-68 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

This game came down to two things from Minnesota’s perspective. On defense they had too many fouls. Foul trouble for Jordan Murphy relegated him to only 26 minutes played before fouling out. And the Eagles were often on the free throw line. They only had 24 free throw attempts but this was a slower paced, fewer possession game. But ultimately the defense wasn’t the problem.

It was the offense.

Boston College went to a 2-3 matchup zone that Minnesota had no answer for. The result was making only 8 baskets in the entire 2nd half, shooting 23.5% from the field. Worse from behind the arc where they were just 2/16 in the second half.

Not properly attacking the middle of the zone to free up open shooters led to the Gopher’s demise. The offense was stagnant and the shot selection was poor, mostly due to not utilizing the offense to attack the defense and get good shots.

This recap will be short. The offense stunk, the defense struggled. But there is no reason to panic. This was a bad game, one to be learned from. They were facing a middle of the pack on the road against a middle of the pack ACC team. When you play poorly on the road, you will lose.

Minnesota’s challenging non-conference schedule continues when they face a decent Oklahoma State team at US Bank Stadium on Friday. Time to learn from this one and move on.