Minnesota crashes hard at home against No. 23 Illinois

Marcus Fuller, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 8, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — Heavy snow didn’t keep fans from packing Williams Arena early Saturday evening for what Minnesota coach Ben Johnson hoped would be another marquee home win for his Gophers men’s basketball team despite a below-.500 Big Ten record.

After all, the Gophers had beaten ranked Michigan and Oregon, but Illinois was arguably the best team they had faced this season.

NBA scouts were on hand to watch Illini freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley, projected first-round picks.

Dawson Garcia has looked like a pro, too, this season, but the Gophers still looked overmatched in talent Saturday in a 95-74 loss to No. 23 Illinois at the Barn.

Lu’Cye Patterson scored 24 points and Femi Odukale 22, both season highs. But Garcia was held to 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting

Riley scored 27 points and Jakucionis 24. Between them they made 19 of 31 shots.

The Gophers were outscored 49-39 in the second half, when the Illini shot 73%.

The Gophers (12-12, 4-9 Big Ten) got their crowd going in the outset with three straight 3-pointers to jump ahead 9-2, but Illinois didn’t flinch and had a 46-35 halftime lead.

Jakucionis, Riley and Tomislav Ivisic combined for 30 points in the first half for the Illini, who had the rebounding edge, 22-12, and scored 28 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Gophers tried to get the margin under double figures when Patterson made it 61-50 at the 12:14 mark, but Jakucionis sparked Illinois on a 15-5 run.

The 6-6 Lithuania native isn’t just a long-range shooter. He showed off his shiftiness, footwork and layup package, scoring three straight times off the dribble, including twice over the outstretched hands of the 6-11 Garcia and off the glass.

Riley, a 6-8 forward from Ontario, wouldn’t be outdone by his first-year counterpart. The former five-star recruit drilled his second 3-pointer from NBA range to make it 84-61 at the five-minute mark. The margin extended to 28 points before Minnesota fans started to leave the arena.

Entering Saturday, the Gophers had their full lineup available, but Illinois listed starters Ivisic (ankle) and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (illness) as questionable on the Big Ten availability report.

Gibbs-Lawhorn didn’t start and played just four minutes Saturday. Ivisic, who missed the second half after hurting an ankle in Wednesday’s loss against Rutgers, was a big factor early with 10 of his 18 points in the first half Saturday, to go with 11 rebounds.

Johnson’s team played Michigan State twice, Purdue and Wisconsin this season, but the Illini were the most offensively gifted and just as physical as any opponent.

The Gophers were outscored 50-26 in the paint and outrebounded 38-26 in the game.

Odukale, who went 8-for-17 from the field and 4-for-6 from long range, tried to keep the score respectable for the Gophers early in the second half. So did Patterson, who scored 13 of his 24 points in the second half.

Garcia struggled to score against Illinois' size with a lineup of players standing 7-1, 6-9, 6-9 and 6-9. He had just five points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half Saturday.

In Tuesday’s 69-61 win at Penn State, the Gophers got a big lift from reserve guard Brennan Rigsby with 14 points, but they were outscored 36-8 off the bench by the Illini.

After back-to-back wins against ranked opponents at home during a three-game winning streak last month, the Gophers have consecutive losses at the Barn, including 71-68 against Washington last weekend.

After failing to compete against a Big Ten title contender Saturday, the Gophers will try to regroup for their first L.A. road trip in the Big Ten against USC and UCLA on Feb. 15 and Feb. 18.