Blitzed at The Barn, Hoosiers Fall to Minnesota

The Indiana Hoosiers entered Wednesday night’s Big Ten opener at 7-0 and with a chance to enter a much-hyped game on Saturday against Louisville with a whole lot of momentum. The Minnesota Golden Gophers had different ideas, they took advantage of a poor shooting performance from the Hoosiers and handed Indiana their first loss of the season, prevailing 73-64 at Williams Arena. Minnesota was short-handed due to injuries and they are expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten standings so this is a loss that will likely sting all season for Indiana.

The Indiana Hoosiers got off to a solid start and were ahead 29-22 with Tucker DeVries headed in for a fast break dunk but his attempt was blocked and that play seemed to turn the tide for Minnesota. The Gophers were able to rally and close the half on a 11-4 run and tied the game on a three-pointer by Cade Tyson just before halftime. Minnesota had eight offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes and IU failed to build on the lead when they had a chance.

The second half began with Minnesota’s big men getting in immediate foul trouble but Indiana could not find any rhythm on offense and failed to take advantage. The Gophers hit a pair of three-pointers midway through the second half to take a 46-43 lead and they never looked back. Despite a couple of efforts from Indiana to threaten, Minnesota comfortably held on and dropped Indiana to 7-1 and 0-1 in Big Ten play.

Tayton Conerway led the Hoosiers with 18 points and Lamar Wilkerson chipped in with 15 but it took the shooting guard 14 shot attempts to get his points. The Hoosiers shot just 8 for 27 from three and only 12 for 20 from the charity stripe and they were hammered on the glass, losing that battle 40-25. Minnesota did not have any second-chance points in the second half but the rebounding edge helped negate their 16 turnovers.

The Hoosiers will try to bounce back on Saturday against Louisville and they’ll resume Big Ten play with a home game against Penn State next week.