Short-handed Gophers let opportunity slip away at Michigan State

Minnesota drops its third straight contest.

The adversity kept stacking up for the Gophers men’s basketball team.

Elijah Hawkins was ruled out before the Thursday night’s game against Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., with an ankle injury. Then the short-handed Gophers found themselves in foul trouble, with freshman guard Cam Christie fouling out early in the second half to further deplete their backcourt.

Ultimately, the Gophers gave themselves an opportunity to beat the Spartans but saw that chance slip away late in a 76-66 loss, their third straight defeat.

Frankly, the Spartans (11-7, 3-4 Big Ten) probably should have won by a larger margin. Without their floor general in Hawkins — who leads the nation with 7.8 assists per game — the Gophers (12-6, 3-4) had several more turnovers (19) than assists (13). They racked up 24 fouls on the night and even missed nine free-throw attempts, shooting just 65% from the line.

Still, the Gophers were down by just two with 2 minutes, 54 seconds remaining, but the Spartans closed the game on a 12-2 run. The U couldn’t get out of its own way, missing several free throws down the stretch, which accompanied many missed shots.

Despite their issues, the Gophers gave themselves a chance. They went into halftime down just five despite some of the issues with foul trouble and even battled back to tie the game on multiple occasions in the second half.

But the Gophers’ 19 turnovers turned into 21 points for the Spartans. And Minnesota was outscored in the paint 44-12, certainly not a recipe for success. 

Tyson Walker led the Spartans with 21 points, Malik Hall had 16 points and 12 boards and Jaden Akins scored 10. Tre Holloman, the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout, had eight points, two assists and a rebound.

Dawson Garcia had 22 points and nine rebounds for the U. Mike Mitchell Jr. tallied 14 points and five assists, hitting a couple shots from deep early as the U kept it close. 

Pharrel Payne, who was listed as questionable before the game, started and had seven points and 10 rebounds. Christie had eight points before fouling out.