'Immaturity' plagues Gophers despite being among oldest teams in the country

Minnesota's loss on Saturday to Penn State was something they've already seen this season.

Feb 22, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard Nick Kern Jr. (3) shoots as Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) defends during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Saturday’s game against Penn State marked only the second time this season the Gophers were betting favorites against a Big Ten opponent. After a nine-point loss to the Nittany Lions, they’ve now dropped home games to the Big Ten’s last- and second-to-last-place teams, and Ben Johnson saw echoes of the same flaws he spotted earlier this season against Washington.

Minnesota closed as 3.5-point favorites on Feb. 1 against Washington and 2.5-point favorites on Saturday against Penn State. Both games handed them a golden chance at home to solidify their Big Ten standing. Despite being one of the most experienced teams in the country, they couldn’t cash in.

“Whether it was similar or not, it was just our approach. Things got going easy, just like in Washington. I think we got up nine about 9 or 10 minutes into the game, and it was like we got comfortable. Washington, we get up early, we get comfortable,” Johnson said when asked how the two games stacked up. “You can’t rely on being at home, you can’t rely on the crowd, you can’t rely on ‘oh, we’ve been playing well.’ You’ve got to bring it all the time, and that’s just the immaturity that showed today. Our engagement was nowhere near where it needed to be to win a Big Ten game.”

Minnesota added eight scholarship players from the transfer portal last offseason, entering the year as the fifth-most experienced team in the country per NCAA-endorsed analytics site barttorvik.com. Yet, for the second time this season, Johnson’s labeled his squad immature.

Back in the non-conference slate, Johnson called it a “sign of an immature team” when breaking down how the Gophers prepped for Cleveland State compared to their prior game against Yale. They had a shot to fix those early stumbles against Penn State and build real momentum, but the opportunity slipped away.

“Especially coming down the stretch of the season, it was an opportunity we had,” Johnson said after Saturday’s loss. “This wasn’t the team I’d seen in the past week.”

In his fourth season, Johnson has less experience as a college basketball head coach than nearly half his roster does playing at this level. Six scholarship Gophers are in their fifth college season or beyond, yet immaturity keeps rearing its head in late February.

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