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Asuma's Hot Shooting Not Enough as Gophers Fall to Lowly Maryland

Asuma hit a career-high six threes, but Diggy Coit was too much for Minnesota down the stretch.
Will Ragatz|
Feb 8, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) works around Maryland Terrapins guard George Turkson Jr. (11) during the first half at Williams Arena.
Feb 8, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) works around Maryland Terrapins guard George Turkson Jr. (11) during the first half at Williams Arena. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Golden Gophers

Despite the best three-point shooting day of Isaac Asuma's career, the Gophers dropped yet another close game on Sunday. David "Diggy" Coit hit a huge late three to cap a dominant afternoon as a struggling Maryland team stole a 67-62 win over Minnesota at Williams Arena.

Coit scored 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Terrapins (9-14, 2-10 Big Ten), who won for just the second time in conference play this season. Asuma tied his career high with 18 points, but it wasn't enough for the Gophers (11-13, 4-9). This was a major letdown for Minnesota after Wednesday's triumphant, streak-snapping upset win over Michigan State.

Of the Gophers' last ten games, eight have been decided by five points or fewer (or gone to overtime). They're 2-6 in those contests. This five-point loss to Maryland joins a one-point loss to USC, a three-point loss to Wisconsin, an OT loss to Ohio State, a four-point loss to Wisconsin, and a two-point loss to Penn State. Niko Medved's team has shown promising signs this season but has struggled mightily to close out tight games.

After a Jaylen Crocker-Johnson three, the Gophers led 60-56 with a little over three minutes to play. Maryland would close the game on an 11-2 run. Coit tied it at 60 with a layup, then gave the Terps a one-point lead with a clutch stepback three in the final 30 seconds. Crocker-Johnson narrowly missed a contested layup on the other end, Coit hit a pair of free throws, and Asuma missed the front end of a one-and-one to basically seal defeat for Minnesota.

Asuma's 18 points came on a career-high six threes, including four in the first half. He had never previously made more than four threes in a game. Cade Tyson added 12 points and Langston Reynolds had 11 for the Gophers, but it wasn't enough. Minnesota made 14 threes but only six two-pointers all game, and the Gophers also missed six of their 14 free-throw attempts.

Coit's 29 points easily led the way for Maryland, which shot 50 percent from the field.

The Gophers held a narrow 33-32 halftime lead thanks to eight threes, including four from Asuma and three from Bobby Durkin. They led for a big chunk of the game. But in the end, the result was another hard-to-swallow loss for Medved's bunch.

Next up for the Gophers is a trip to Washington next Saturday.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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