Ben Johnson could not have asked for a better start for his Gophers men's basketball team Sunday at Michigan, jumping out to a 10-point lead in front of a silent Crisler Arena crowd.
The Gophers' top three scorers had their worst performance together earlier in the week in a humbling 61-39 loss to Purdue. But Dawson Garcia, Jamison Battle, and Ta'Lon Cooper bounced back and put the Wolverines on upset alert early Sunday afternoon.
The Gophers shot 9-for-15 from the field to open the first half, but they couldn't sustain that effort offensively in a 60-56 loss in Ann Arbor.
Johnson isn't big on moral victories, but the coach did see major improvement in how his team competed after losses to Illinois and Purdue by a combined 40 points last week.
"That was our biggest focus is we had to get back our competitive fight," Johnson said postgame. "I thought the guys did a good job from the start setting the tone. That carried us for the remainder of the game."
Here are four takeaways from the Gophers' loss Sunday at Michigan:
Garcia's health
Dawson Garcia looked like the best player on the floor at times in the first half. The 6-11 forward had seven points in the first 11 minutes, and the Gophers were plus-10 when he was on the court.
But the momentum changed completely once Garcia left the game with two fouls in the first half. Michigan outscored the Gophers 13-3 the rest of the half, tying the score 23-23 at halftime.
Garcia clearly was eager to play again when he opened the second half with a three-pointer to give his team the early lead. Michigan responded with a 20-7 run to pull ahead, but Garcia hit another three to make it 43-40 with under nine minutes to play.
It wasn't as spectacular as his 28-point performance in the win at Ohio State, but Garcia was keeping the Gophers within striking distance until he landed awkwardly on that last three-pointer. He limped off the floor and wasn't the same after returning to the game.
Garcia, who committed seven of the team's 15 turnovers, was clearly hampered by an ankle injury and couldn't make an impact late. The Gophers obviously need him healthy. There has been no update on the severity of his injury.
"He was in the flow and had good pace and rhythm offensively to him," Johnson said. "We tried to put him back in there and he just couldn't move."
Defensive improvement
The Gophers have had flashes of efficient shooting this season, but they're not a consistently good offensive team. That's probably an understatement considering the 39 points they scored in last week's loss to Purdue were the team's fewest points since a game in 1950-51 season.
Johnson believes his team's identity should be found on the defensive side of the ball. That identity showed up Sunday, when the Gophers limited the Wolverines to 37% shooting from the field, including 2-for-14 on three-pointers.
The biggest issue was slowing Michigan 7-1, 260-pound center Hunter Dickinson, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half. Dickinson was a handful for both Garcia and freshman Pharrel Payne, who battled but also fouled. Dickinson finished 9-for-9 on free throws, seven of them coming in the second half.
Another post challenge awaits Wednesday, when the Gophers host Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, who has averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in his past two games.
Cooper's homecoming
The Gophers weren't anticipating Cooper would become one of the Big Ten's best rebounding guards when they landed him out of the transfer portal last spring.
But the Morehead State transfer finished with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds Sunday, his second points/rebounds double-double this season.
Cooper, who grew up in Detroit before moving to South Carolina, played his first game in his home state against a Big Ten opponent Sunday. He didn't disappoint his family and friends in attendance.
The 6-4 junior point guard bounced back from a four-point outing vs. Purdue with 15 points against the Wolverines. But his eagerness to crash the glass — he got six of the Gophers' first seven rebounds in the game — was the most impressive aspect of his game.
Slim rotation
Johnson's rotation was bound to shrink when the Gophers lost freshman Braeden Carrington, their top perimeter scorer off the bench, because of a leg injury last week.
The Gophers primarily used six players Sunday. Three starters (Cooper, Battle and Taurus Samuels) played 35 minutes or more. Garcia played 26 minutes because he was in foul trouble and then was injured in the second half.
Payne got extended playing time with 31 minutes, a season high for him in Big Ten games. But fellow freshman Jaden Henley played only six minutes, including just one minute in the second half.
The last time Henley was in the starting lineup was Dec. 8 against Michigan at home, and he played 22 minutes. Since Henley was replaced by Samuels as a starter, Henley's 21 minutes last week vs. Purdue represented his biggest opportunity. It had appeared Carrington's injury would give Henley more time on the floor, but that wasn't the case Sunday.
