No. 23 Minnesota Hands No. 7 Michigan First Loss of the Season

Michigan went from leading Wisconsin by 40 last week to losing to Minnesota by 18, suffering its first loss of the pandemic season.

No. 7 Michigan went from leading Wisconsin by 40 last week to losing to No. 23 Minnesota by 18, suffering its first loss of the pandemic season.

The Wolverines' 75–57 blowout loss was filled with sloppy mistakes, ending the Saturday afternoon matchup with almost as many turnovers (20) as made field goals (22) and scored well under one point per possession. 

Michigan ended up trailing by as many as 23 points to the Gophers. 

The Wolverines tallied more turnovers (11) than made field goals (10) and shot just 41.7% from the field within the first 20 minutes of play. Star Eli Brooks was out due to a foot injury, which did impact the team, but it was uncommon mistakes that plagued Michigan. 

Center Hunter Dickinson, who is usually one of the more dependent players against double teams, had four first-half turnovers. 

Minnesota wasn't much better, though, in the first half. The Gophers shot 12 of 34 from the field and 0 of 11 from 3-point range. But, despite mediocre play, they entered halftime with a seven-point lead. 

By the end of the day, Michigan shot 39.2% from the field, 27.3% from the three-point line and 50% from free throws. Minnesota, on the other hand, went 46.8%, 22.2% and 86.7% respectively. 

Michigan previously throttled Minnesota, 82-57, on Jan. 6 in Ann Arbor, but 20 turnovers and a lackluster performance with no star taking over leave the Wolverines with a 11-1 record.