Ben Johnson calls Gophers' adversity at Michigan State a learning experience

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team was riding the high of a three-game Big Ten winning streak after an 0-6 start in conference play.

After no wins over ranked opponents in three-plus seasons, Ben Johnson got two in a nine-day span. Dawson Garcia’s buzzer-beat got them a win over Michigan. After a road win at Iowa, the Gophers played their most complete game of the season in last Saturday’s 77-69 win over No. 15 Oregon. It all came crashing down Tuesday in a 73-51 loss to Michigan State at the Breslin Center.

Lu’Cye Patterson got whistled for two fouls in the first 30 seconds, the Gophers made mistakes early and missed shots. They had just 16 first half points, and it was too much to overcome against the Spartans. They hope it’s a learning experience as they now get their second of three straight Saturday home games against last place Washington.

"You can tell them until you’re blue in the face, when you beat two ranked teams, you beat Iowa on the road, Michigan State, you’re going to get the best prep they’ve had for the year. A team that’s expected to try to win the Big Ten championship, that hasn’t lost since Maui. They’re toing to treat that like an NCAA Tournament game," Johnson said Friday. "We had never experienced that, so the first couple minutes was like whoa. That’s what happens, that’s why winning is so hard. The more you win, the more you earn respect. You’ve experienced that, we needed to because that’s what it needs to look like for us with everybody else. In an odd way, I like that we went through that."

Fans trickling back to Williams Arena

Why it matters: Fan attendance is dropping across college basketball, but more than 8,800 fans were at the Gophers’ win over Michigan, capped by Garcia’s overtime buzzer-beater. A few hundred went on the court to celebrate.

Minnesota had more than 11,000 fans at last Saturday’s win over Oregon. They were ready to celebrate after Garcia’s dunk with seconds to play. It was Johnson’s biggest win at Minnesota.

"A lot of teams don’t have court storms like that unless you beat a ranked opponent. Just to have two in a nine-day span, that’s big-time. Hopefully we can keep this good energy going," Patterson said. "I feel like it brings the fans together and makes them want to come and be a part of something that can be really good."

Keeping the confidence

What the team is saying: The Gophers got hit in the mouth by one of the best teams in the country at Michigan State. They’re 3-7 in Big Ten play, and of their 10 conference games left, only three are against teams in the top half of the league (UCLA, Wisconsin and Illinois).

There’s a lot of season left to be one of the 15 teams to make the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers are also 10-4 on their home court this season.

"Just keep staying with the same confidence we’ve been having. Just move onto the next one, I keep telling everyone it’s a tough league and you’re going to have some tough games," Mike Mitchell Jr. said. "It’s just how you regroup from that. We’ll regroup."