5 key takeaways as Minnesota’s win streak is snapped in foul-filled OT loss to USC

Minnesota overcame a 13-point second-half deficit, but it wasn't able to overcome questionable officiating in a 70-69 overtime loss to USC on Friday night. Here's what we learned, as their win streak stops at five.

Early foul trouble

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson has struggled with foul trouble all season, and he went to the bench after picking up his second foul with 10:09 to go in the first half. Langston Reynolds joined him shortly after, picking up his second foul with 8:20 to go in the first half.

With only seven players in the rotation, Niko Medved and the Gophers' coaching staff opted to keep both players on the bench for the entire first half. They were able to stay competitive without two starters, trailing 35-30 heading into halftime. The early foul trouble set the tone for a sloppy game all night.

Grayson Grove and Kai Shinholster

Crocker-Johson and Reynolds' foul trouble thrust Grove and Shinholster into bigger roles on Friday night, but injuries to Robert Vaihola, Chansey Willis Jr. and B.J. Omot caused them to play much bigger roles this season than many expected. Both players have had moments where they've looked overwhelmed this season, but they continue to improve every time they're on the court. Their performance in Friday's first half was a big reason why Minnesota was able to stick around before making a second-half run.

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Isaac Asuma fouling out

Tuesday's upset win over Iowa was Reynolds' best game in a Gophers uniform with 22 points. Early foul trouble from Reynolds thrust Asuma into becoming Minnesota's only primary ball handler for much of the first half. He finished Friday night's game with only eight points and six assists before fouling out in the second half. It still feels like we're waiting for him to truly break through and take the next step in his development.

Chad Baker-Mazara

Minnesota did a great job slowing down Iowa stars Bennett Stirtz and Alvaro Folgueiras on Tuesday night, but they struggled against Baker-Mazara, who is USC's top player. College basketball fans will recognize him from his time at Auburn, and the fact that he's 25 years old. His antics completely took over Friday night's game. It was highlighted by an absolute flop at the end of the game, which set him up to hit two game-winning free throws. He is quickly reaching Grayson Allen and Brad Davison of college basketball lore.

Home crowd

Friday was Minnesota's final home game before students came back from winter break, but it was still a relatively solid atmosphere. It was a smaller crowd than Tuesday against Iowa, but it was feisty. A large part of Medved's rebuild will need to be creating a consistent home-court advantage at Williams Arena.

The quirkiness of the Barn will always make it a unique place to play, but it will be interesting to see how packed the arena is for next week's border battle against Wisconsin.

Gophers’ home crowd heading into the first media timeout of tonight’s game vs. USC.

(Student section is a little light with winter break still in session). pic.twitter.com/yrD2XrWxy5
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) January 10, 2026