Minnesota halts the bleeding by beating Nebraska 79-61

Minnesota ended its losing streak in a manner that some would refer to as a style with a 79-61 win over Nebraska at Williams Arena. The Gophers are now 12-7 on the season and 5-7 in conference play. Marcus Carr led all scorers with 21 points.

For the purposes of this recap, we are going to treat Nebraska like a non-conference opponent. As such the usual non-con rules apply, win and no injuries. Minnesota accomplished both. There is little else exciting to write about. I have not willingly watched a team this season who is as bad as Nebraska. I guess for hospitality reasons the Gophers decided to meet them in the gutter. Minnesota was 27/72 from the field and just 8/36 from deep. For a stretch in the second half, the Gophers missed 17 shots in a row. I stopped tracking the number of open shots the team missed, but the number was easily in the double digits. Minnesota is a historically bad shooting team with a top 40 defense. Even the characteristically clean defense was absent. The Gophers committed 23 personal fouls along with 9 turnovers.

Oh, the Gophers still won by 18 points. The Gophers that beat Michigan would have beat this Nebraska team by 50.

Individual Notes

Marcus Carr only played 19 minutes in this game because he had three fouls in the first half and then a quick fourth foul in the second. Carr ended with 21 points on 7-11 shooting and added 8 assists.

Liam Robbins played just 14 minutes due to foul trouble. The center eventually fouled out.

Hunt Conroy should have played tonight. Unfortunately Minnesota’s shooting woes prevented the Conroy show.