Michigan falls at home to Minnesota for first Big Ten loss

After looking stronger on offense the past couple games, it looked like Michigan was starting to turn the corner. It was clear tonight there is still a lot of work to be done as the Michigan Wolverines lost 75-65 at home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Jamison battle led the way for the Gophers with a monster game going for 27 points on 10-18 shooting. Hunter Dickinson had another big game with 19 points, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

1st Half

Much like in Michigan’s previous three losses, the first half was much better than the second half for the Wolverines. It was close for the entire half with both teams going back and forth, but Michigan was able to maintain a small lead for most of the half. Minnesota took a 30-28 lead late in the first half, but an 8-2 run to close the half put the Wolverines up by 4 going into the half. Things were fine at this point.

2nd Half

The second half was a different story. Again, much like in Michigan’s first three losses, Minnesota immediately took over the game and grabbed a lead. The Gophers started the second half on a 7-0 run to take a lead a couple minutes into the half and never looked back. Minnesota began to pull away as the second half went on, and eventually grew their lead to 16 points. Michigan then went on a 10-0 run to get the lead down to 6 and had a few chances to get it closer than that, but failed to capitalize. Minnesota was able to ice the game and come away with a 75-65 win.

Michigan is now 6-4 and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Not many were picturing Michigan having this record at this point. The Wolverines now have a crucial stretch playing some lesser competition before they get into full time Big Ten play on January 4th. Michigan will welcome Southern Utah and Purdue Fort Wayne before traveling to UCF to close the non-conference schedule in what should be a tough game. Michigan has a lot to get right before Big Ten play resumes.