Ben Johnson could have faced accusations of stealing silver linings after an 0-4 start to Big Ten play. After a one-point loss to Ohio State this week, the Gophers men’s basketball coach pointed out how each defeat came with a steady, incremental improvement. And for what it’s worth, he was right. The conference opener against Michigan State in December was poor, but the first road game at Indiana was a bit better. Once league play restarted in January, the matchup with then-No. 20 Purdue was three-fourths full before a late collapse, and the Buckeyes game went to double overtime on Monday. The gulf started out a mile wide and shrank to inches, but each game still ended in defeat. On Friday night, the gap was ripped wide open again with an 80-59 loss to Wisconsin at Kohl Center in Madison. Minnesota (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten) led 31-30 early in the second half, but the 12.5-point underdog allowed the Badgers to go on a 13-2 run to make it 43-33 over the next 3 minutes. It didn’t stop there. Wisconsin led by as many as 30 and outscored Minnesota 50-30 after halftime. The Badgers (13-3, 3-2) extended their winning streak in the rivalry to eight straight since 2020. “They cut harder,” Johnson said. “They moved faster. They were more physical. Everything it took to win, they took it up a notch. We didn’t; we stayed the same.” At one point during the slide Friday, a group of upperclassmen Gophers huddled up on the court before foul shots as if to come up with something to help stop the bleeding. Nobody appeared to say anything, and a few looked up to watch the replay of Steven Crowl’s basket seconds earlier. Johnson didn’t speak with the Gophers’ postgame radio show for a second time this season; hosts Mike Grimm and Al Nolen were also left waiting after the Indiana loss on Dec. 9. Instead, after both blowouts, Johnson remained in the locker room with his team well after the games had ended. On Friday, the long meeting was player-led, Johnson said, with nearly everyone voicing how they saw the final 20 minutes unravel. To start Friday, Minnesota took a 15-5 lead through the first five minutes, but Wisconsin got it right back with a 13-2 run to take an 18-17 lead. The U had four turnovers over a six-minute span and they finished with 15 turnovers. After foul trouble and bad shooting against the Buckeyes, Minnesota’s leading scorer Dawson Garcia started hot with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting along with eight rebounds in the first half. He finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Femi Odukale shook off his bruised ribs injury suffered in a scary fall off the raised floor at Williams Arena on Monday. He had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists in his 16 first-half minutes. But he didn’t add a rebound or an assist in the second half. Gophers second-leading scorer Mike Mitchell went missing for big stretches of the game and finished with five points on 2-of 7-shooting. After a career-high 18 points against the Buckeyes, guard Isaac Asuma showed a freshman’s inconsistency with no points, four fouls and three turnovers. Related Articles College Sports | Inside Gophers guard Isaac Asuma’s ‘let’s go!’ moment against Ohio State College Sports | Gophers’ late-game failures result in 89-88 loss to Ohio State in 2OT College Sports | Gophers men’s basketball seeks ‘breakthrough game’ against Ohio State College Sports | Men’s basketball: Gophers blown out by Boilermakers after hanging tough in first half College Sports | Gophers hope a healthy Mike Mitchell can produce upswing in Big Ten play