A majority of the Minnesota Golden Gophers were rudely welcomed to Big Ten basketball on Wednesday night at the Barn as the physicality and shot-making of the Michigan State Spartans led to a 75-67 defeat. Despite a resurgent night from sixth year senior forward Eric Curry, an enthusiastic Barnyard student section, and defensive exertion to the last whistle, the Gophers were never able to fully counter the balanced scoring attack from Tom Izzo’s squad, with six Spartans scoring at least six points.
In the early going, Minnesota’s offense looked stagnant as Michigan State applied ample ball pressure and gave Gopher shooters limited space on the perimeter.