What We Learned About Gophers in Crushing Loss vs Northwestern

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Dawson Garcia, Minnesota Gophers
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Gophers welcomed the Northwestern Wildcats into Williams Arena on Tuesday night. Ben Johnson’s team entered the game as slight 2.5 point favorites. It’s not a situation that the Gophers have been in often this season, and it’s also one they haven’t handled well.

Minnesota is at a critical juncture in their regular season. 14th in the Big Ten standings, only the top 15 teams make it to the year-end tournament. The Gophers are tied with USC at 6-10 in conference, but hold the tiebreaker after their recent road victory.

Femi Odukale, Minnesota Gophers
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Northwestern had a chance to draw closer and push Minnesota towards elimination. Johnson had to have his guys ready to go, and couldn’t afford another misstep after an ugly loss to Penn State. That message didn’t reach the hardwood though.

Minnesota Gophers lack fire out of the gate

With just three games left, two of which are on the road, this was as must-win as it gets. Johnson’s team came out flat and Northwestern scored the first ten points of the game. After a slight run to close the gap, they were again down 18-11, and trailed 36-31 at the half.

At no point did it seem like the offense flowed, had real direction, or a fire to close the gap. Johnson remained relatively stoic on the sideline and his rotation continued to be tight. Minnesota had the rebounding advantage at the half but there wasn’t much to show for it.

Johnson’s postgame had a very key theme as he called his team mentally stuck. “We’re mentally stuck right now. I can’t necessarily pinpoint what it is just when we’re not on the road. We’re a totally different team last week…We talked about playing relaxed, and not playing stuck…We’ve got to get out of that stuck feeling.”

Asked about what changes he specifically has made, Johnson alluded to going as far as making the locker room feel like a road game. His preparation was the same, and the locker room was set up as though Minnesota was again at UCLA.

Guard Femi Odukale knows that this team is now 2-7 at The Barn, but the changes don’t matter much. Asked whether a feel of playing on the road resonates he said, “No, we are back at home and ready to play. He [Johnson] wants to do that so we come out with the same urgency.”

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The Wildcats were well aware that a win could change their Big Ten tournament hopes and they were the only team on the floor that was interested in that result.

Northwestern scoring leader took it to Gophers Dawson Garcia

Minnesota’s greatest chance at a draft-worthy talent this season is Dawson Garcia. The well-traveled senior has spent the past three years at home with the Gophers after trips to Marquette and North Carolina. He has put together a solid season and is averaging a career-best 19.4 points per game.

For the first half it was almost entirely the Garcia and Nick Martinelli show. Northwestern’s 6’7″ forward brought his conference-leading 19.7 points per game to The Barn. Minnesota’s top talent matched up with him all half and the tandem traded buckets to put on a show.

As the game went on though, the Minnesota Gophers had no answer for Martinelli, and Garcia couldn’t keep up. The Gophers forward went just 3-of-7 from deep, and 9-of-20 from the field scoring 26 points.

Johnson switched guard Femi Odukale onto Martinelli in the second half and the Northwestern star feasted. Asked after the game about the matchup, Johnson talked of the need to sacrifice defense for points. “We had to change it up defensively a little bit so we went to switch-five. You can’t control the matchups as much. Our ball screen coverage [in the first half] wasn’t where it needed to be.” The lineup couldn’t handle two big men needing to score and that’s the spot it left Minnesota in.

Martinelli picked up multiple and-one opportunities on drives to the basket down the stretch. He hit a couple of lightly contested three-point shots. Ultimately it led to a 29 point performance on 11-of-20 shooting. He fell just shy of the career-high 32 points he posted earlier this season, but was clearly the best player on the floor.

Garcia is certainly a fringe NBA talent, but it will be interesting to see how his game works. At 6’11” he has the height, but not necessarily the bulk to bang down low. He isn’t a good three-point shooter, and his drives are often empty when contested. It was certainly a workout against Martinelli on Tuesday.

MN Gophers roster construction doesn’t work

Ben Johnson has largely ignored NIL fundraising and has watched his roster implode during recent seasons because of it. This team was never expected to be good, but wins against teams like Michigan and the California swing made some believe.

Tuesday it was again apparent just how out of sorts the group is. Femi Odukale is miscast as a point guard and doesn’t possess the ball-handling or playmaking ability you’d like to see from the position. Frank Mitchell plays in the post because he’s 260 pounds, but is just 6’8″.

Senior guard Mike Mitchell was again in the starting lineup on Tuesday. Despite shooting just 35% on the season, he has been in that spot for 20 games. The Wildcats held him to an 0-for-6 night (0-for-4 from three) and he grabbed just a single rebound.

Related: Ben Johnson’s Gophers Basketball Program Still Way Behind in NIL

Ideally Dawson Garcia would be able to stretch the floor more, but he doesn’t have the shot making ability on the outside to constantly force defenders to worry about him. Unfortunately it all boils down to an offense that gets quickly stagnant once a rotation of a play breaks down.

Dawson Garcia, Minnesota Gophers
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Johnson wasn’t able to work through that again, and the defense couldn’t slow the Wildcats down. The Gophers allowed Northwestern to shoot 49% from the field and 47% from deep. They also turned the ball over 13 times (-5 differential) and were outscored off of them by eight.

Minnesota Gophers remain as expected with season closing

Short of a miracle including multiple wins against Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Rutgers, the Gophers season will end on March 9th. Johnson certainly earned himself more leash throughout points of the season, but the final result could seal his fate.

It remains to be seen whether or not Mark Coyle can make the decision to fire his head basketball coach, but this hasn’t been a good experiment. Across four seasons leading the Gophers, Johnson now owns a 55-68 record. A dejected coach at the podium tonight, it was tough to hear that the Minnesota leader is still searching for answers that generate consistency and readiness.

Regardless of what happens with the Gophers NIL budget for the 2025-26 season, there’s just not enough reason to think that this is going to fix itself. A new coach may not immediately see a heightened level of success, but Johnson himself talked about the lack of sustainability year-over-year.

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That’s something he credited Northwestern coach Chris Collins with having, and he has done that through his own volition. Given the seniors leaving, an opportunity to start over and rebuild may be the most logical path forward.

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