See more of the story

There are college basketball teams that can win games without shooting free throws well, but the Gophers aren't one of them.

Sure coach Richard Pitino can roll out a long list of things that led to Sunday's 71-69 loss at Wisconsin, but poor shooting from the foul line has to be near the top.

The Gophers (13-15, 7-11 Big Ten) shot 13-for-23 from the free-throw line against the Badgers. All of the foul shots came in the second half, when they had to fight back from a 12-point deficit.

They did so — managing to take the lead with less than 6 minutes left, and again with 47 seconds remaining. But imagine if more free throws had fallen. There might have been a different outcome.

"We have a young team," said sophomore Daniel Oturu, who had 26 points and shot 8-for-11 from the line. "That's not an excuse. It's just reality. We've got a lot of guys who have one or two years' experience playing in the Big Ten. … We just have to figure out how to close out these close games."

In the past five games, the Gophers have shot a dismal 56.3% from the foul line (49-for-87). Not surprisingly, they have a 1-4 record during that stretch, including three home losses. Their free-throw percentage isn't as bad for the season overall, at ninth in the league (69.4%), but things change when they have to shoot under pressure.

"I think we missed some really important free throws to be honest," Pitino said after falling 74-73 last Wednesday to Maryland on a three-pointer from Darryl Morsell with 1.9 seconds left. "Obviously, the Iowa one and this one."

Of course, the Gophers could have played better defensively or made more baskets in crunch time, including Sunday. The margin of error, though, becomes very slim when you can't convert free throws in a tight game.

With 6:53 left in the second half Sunday, point guard Marcus Carr went 1-for-2 at the line to tie the score 54-54. Tre' Williams three-pointer with 5:44 to play gave the Gophers their first lead of the second half, and 42 seconds later the freshman split two free throws to put his team up 58-56.

Minnesota held a 60-59 lead when Alihan Demir missed two free throws with 3:46 to play. Wisconsin took advantage, reclaiming the lead on a three-pointer from Brevin Pritzl. Oturu then made two free throws to tie it 62-62.

Pitino's team didn't get to the foul line again until 11 seconds remained. Carr missed two free throws with the Gophers down 71-68. After Oturu was fouled on the offensive rebound, it seemed a fitting end that he hit one of two at the line for the final margin.

It continues a recent trend. In the 58-55 home loss to Iowa Feb. 15, Oturu needed both ends of a 1-and-1 with 3.9 seconds left to tie the score but missed the first free throw. Wednesday, the Gophers shot 10-for-19 on free throws, and Gabe Kal­scheur's miss on the front end of a 1-and-1 set up the Terrapins to win on Morsell's three.

The Gophers only have two regular-season games left, but they can't let the frustration over mistakes carry over to Wednesday's game at Indiana, Oturu said.

"Just move past it," he said. "There's a lot of things that contributed to us not coming out with the victory [Sunday]. Everybody makes mistakes. Just move on from them."