Purdue's Matt Painter says Ben Johnson has the Gophers going 'in the right direction'

Gophers lost by eight on the road to No. 2 Purdue Thursday night

Minnesota was expected to be blown out Thursday night in a tough trip to No. 2 ranked Purdue. Instead the top-ranked home side were forced to come back from an halftime deficit and scrape out an eight-point victory.

The closely contested game, their narrowest home win since edging No. 9 Illinois by five points in early January, had Purdue head coach Matt Painter singing the praises of Ben Johnson's Gophers.

"They're a tough cover," Painter said after Thursday's 84-76 win. "If you're fielding a team and looking for things - think about what they've added, they've added quickness in the nation's leading assist guy in [Elijah] Hawkins. They've added two guys that can score at the two and the three, that also have quickness and can dribble. [Braeden] Carrington has been more consistent for them, and he's a two-way player for them coming off the bench who they've had in the past.

"So, you look at their front line and [Joshua-Ola] Joseph is a good player and, right now, he doesn't get as many minutes, kind of the odd man out, kind of like Caleb Furst for us. But it's because those other guys are really good too. So, they have depth in their front court. Their back court is really new but they're starting to play well together and they're polished and they're making shots and guarding. That's what you want. You got quickness, you got athleticism, you got size, you got skill that's what you want."

Feb 15, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter argues a call against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half at Mackey Arena / © Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Thursday's loss dropped the Gophers to 6-7 in Big Ten play this season and 15-9 overall. Most bracketologists don't have Minnesota making the tournament this season but that doesn't mean they're not impressed with the development of the team.

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm tweeted Thursday night: "Minnesota is getting better every week. Ben Johnson has done a great job with this team."

Minnesota is getting better every week. Ben Johnson has done a great job with this team.

— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) February 16, 2024

Painter has been left impressed with the job Johnson has done as well saying, "He's just made a lot of right decisions this year in developing his team."

"He's just a good guy, good coach, and they're going in the right direction. That's what you want to see - a light at the end of the tunnel. You want that light to be hope, you don't want it to be a train. Their light is hope, they should feel good about where they are. Even though it stings, they put themselves in position to win and they didn't, but a lot of people don't even put themselves in that position. When you go on the road in this league it's pretty tough."

Purdue’s Matt Painter impressed with the #Gophers team @CoachBenJohnson has put together after Minnesota goes toe-to-toe with the No. 2 #Boilers. @GopherMBB #C2F pic.twitter.com/wdywrgZbsi

— Gophers Forever (@GophersForever) February 16, 2024