Minnesota loses to Michigan 82-57

Minnesota lost to Michigan 82-57 at the Crisler Center. The Gophers fall to 3-3 in conference and 10-3 on the season. Marcus Carr led all Minnesota scorers with 14.

Look today sucked for reasons that had nothing to do with sports. The game in Ann Arbor was also bad. Minnesota had another horrid shooting night on the road. Before both teams emptied the benches, the Gophers were shooting 27% in the second half while Michigan shot close to 80%. Minnesota made all of their free throws, but only shot six of them. The Gophers were out-rebounded by Michigan and committed two turnovers for every one assist. At one point Michigan was up 44-16 in the paint. Minnesota ended 7-28 from distance.

What to make of all of this? On the one hand Michigan is quite good, and presents a difficult match-up for the Gophers. They have multiple shooters and their best players are a 4 and a 5, negating the advantage that the Gophers can bring with Gabe Kalscheur on defense. I fully expect them to be a top 6 team in the next AP poll. Michigan was the better team tonight in all phases.

On the other hand, boy did the Gophers help. Many of the turnovers were bad. When shots did not fall, Minnesota reverted to some bad habits on offense, most notably the lack of crisp ball movement. I am not sure exactly why Minnesota is so bad on the road, but they are.

Also lest any person get it twisted, this game doesn’t matter a lick for post-season purposes.

Notes

Martice Mitchell was 100% on his 3 pointers.

Take the game tape. Show it once. Kill it with fire. Bury the ashes throughout Minnesota.