I think Minny also played great defense against us. It seemed like Boo and Barney were covered a lot more closely than normal. How much of this was due to NU's fatigue or Minny's game planning, I don't know. But it definitely seems that their interior shots were a lot more contested than normal. If the latter, hoping we can game plan around it the next time we play them.
Yeah I agree that Minnesota played good defense. The bigs helping on the drivers was key, especially 21 had a good 2H + OT... Dawson Garcia was not as much of a mismatch inside as I thought when they were on offense, but he was nails at the FT line and hit a big 3, also had a couple nice defensive plays. He and Payne made it tough for us to finish at the rim.
All that said, props to Minnesota, but I think the biggest issue was that we were just gassed and didn't have the legs toward the end. Hard to blame them after a very tough fought OT battle against Purdue on the road, then traveling again on 2 days rest for an afternoon tip. We made a last push at the end of regulation to tie it up and then had the chance at it, but we had nothing left to get it over the line in OT unfortunately. Lots of shots missed on the front of the rim in the 2H and especially in OT. Alas, that seemed like a game we should have won, but when you add up (i) way too many turnovers in H1 with bad passes, (ii) bizarre reffing in H2 all around, and (iii) no legs left in OT, it ends up with a somewhat disappointing loss.
Get rested and let's get back on the winning side at the friendly confines of Welsh Ryan against Nebraska.