Quick Reaction: Indiana men’s basketball loses to Minnesota 73-64

Indiana played its first true road game of the season and suffered its first loss of the year, falling to the Golden Gophers at the Barn, 73-64.

It wasn’t Indiana’s first slow start of the season, but on the road against a Big Ten opponent, the Hoosiers’ overall sluggishness proved costly. Minnesota appeared ready for the upset from the opening tip, trading buckets with Indiana for most of the opening ten minutes.

Niko Medved’s group had the scout on Darian DeVries’ Hoosiers, sticking to Indiana’s best shooters, Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, like glue from start to finish. DeVries in particular had one of his quietest games as a Hoosier, being held below his season averages in points, rebounds, and assists.

The Gophers were also able to get Indiana into foul trouble, as is Medved’s gameplan, limiting freshman Trent Sisley to just two minutes in the entire first half.

Despite that, Indiana was able to open up an eight-point lead with under five to play in the opening half, but lost all momentum and entered the break tied at 33.

The second half was more of the same, with the exception that Indiana was playing from behind for the majority of the final 20 minutes, thanks to a 3-pointer from Bobby Durkin to give Minnesota its first lead of the half. Indiana was able to keep it close and even regain the lead thanks to a three from Sisley, but ultimately never got it going enough to avoid the upset.

Foul trouble, rebounding issues, and Indiana’s inability to generate open shots for their best shooters cost Indiana their undefeated record heading into Saturday’s matchup with Louisville.

The Hoosiers got some nice performances from Tayton Conerway, who led Indiana in scoring, and Lamar Wilkerson, who found ways to score even without the three ball falling. Minnesota had their struggles too, missing plenty of free throws that would have put the game out of reach earlier.

It’s not a loss that will derail a season, but it will probably cost the Hoosiers their AP ranking and gives the coaching staff plenty to look at heading into the big matchup this weekend.