By Aaron J. Thornton (photo credit Aaron J. Thornton)
The Michigan Wolverines returned home to host the Minnesota Golden Golphers on Saturday night, looking to stay undefeated in the conference. But it was the Golden Golphers who came up with the victory in the end.
Michigan shot a dismal 17% (3 of 18) from behind the arc in the game and despite leading by 4 at halftime, they couldn’t hold off the hot shooting of Sophomore Forward Jamison Battle and the Golden Golphers in the second half. Minnesota shot 64% (16 of 25) in the second half and at one time built up a 16 point lead on Michigan. The Wolverines ended up cutting the lead to 6 points late in the game but could not complete the comeback in the end.
Turnovers certainly made a difference along with the poor three point shooting by Michigan. Minnesota really took care of the ball, having just four turnovers in the game and controlling the tempo once they gained the lead.
The Golden Golphers had a fairly balanced scoring attack which included six players scoring, four players of which were in double figures. Battle finished with a game-high 27 points and pulled down 7 rebounds for Minnesota. Payton Willis added 17 points.
For Michigan, Hunter Dickinson led the team with a double-double, 19 points, and 10 rebounds. Senior Guards DeVante’ Jones and Eli Brooks scored 14 points and 12 points. Freshman Forward Moussa Diabate had 7 points and 13 rebounds.
After the game, Dickinson spoke about it is hard when you’re not making shots, especially three’s but that’s how the game goes sometimes. He mentioned how important it was for the team to stay confident in each other and in themselves.
Michigan falls to 6-4 on the season, 1-1 in Big Ten play. Minnesota’s record is now 8-1 overall, 1-1 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines will have a week off before taking on Southern Utah in a non-conference matchup at home in Ann Arbor.
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