MINNEAPOLIS _ Life on the road in the Big Ten has been brutal this season.
With only Illinois, Michigan State, Rutgers and Wisconsin prevailing away from home during conference play this season, No. 19 Michigan had a chance to join the short list.
Minnesota sophomore center Daniel Oturu had other plans.
The Wolverines struggled to contain another Big Ten big man and squandered an 11-point first-half lead as the Gophers used a late run to hand them a 75-67 loss Sunday at Williams Arena.
Senior guard Zavier Simpson had 19 points and nine assists, and freshman wing Franz Wagner scored 17 for Michigan (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten), which shot 10-for-28 from 3-point range and fell to 0-3 on the road in conference play.
Oturu finished with 30 points and seven rebounds to lead Minnesota (9-7, 3-3), which snapped a five-game losing skid in the series. Redshirt sophomore guard Marcus Carr added 21 points and senior forward Alihan Demir scored 13 for the Gophers, who used an 11-0 flurry in the final three minutes to put the game away.
After pouring in 20 first-half points and shouldering the load, Oturu opened the second half with a mid-range jumper to give Minnesota its first lead, 32-31, at the 19:40 mark.
That triggered a back-and-forth frenzy where the teams combined to score on 11 consecutive possessions before Michigan blinked first. After Carr splashed a 3-pointer, Minnesota got a defensive stop and Oturu threw down a dunk to give the Gophers a 45-41 advantage with 15:39 to play.
However, Oturu went down hard at the 14:35 mark and appeared to be in pain. After lying on the court, he walked off the court and headed straight to the locker room while holding his left elbow.
By the time Oturu returned after a few minutes, Michigan continued to ride the long ball. After Simpson buried a 3-pointer � snapping a string of eight straight 3-point misses by the Wolverines � and knifed his way to the paint for a layup, Wagner made another 3-pointer to tie it at 57 with 7:35 to play.
Roughly four minutes later, Michigan regained the lead when junior guard Eli Brooks snapped a 0-for-6 start from deep with a 3-pointer to make it 65-64 with 3:22 remaining.
However, the lead was short-lived. Oturu quickly countered with a spin move and layup to ignite an 11-0 run that sent Michigan to another road loss.
Michigan was sharp early � making nine of its first 15 shots � and opened up a 22-12 lead over Minnesota with 9:55 left in the first half.
During the solid start, the Wolverines snapped out of their 3-point shooting funk on the road by making their first four long-range attempts, with Wagner draining a pair and sophomore forward Brandon Johns Jr. and sophomore guard David DeJulius each connecting once.
Minnesota quickly cut the margin in half as Oturu converted a three-point play and went right at redshirt junior center Austin Davis for another basket at the rim to make it 22-17 at the 8:41 mark.
Michigan continued to knock down outside shots, pushing its lead to 30-19 after DeJulius drained another deep ball and senior center Jon Teske knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:13 left in the half, before the offense went cold.
Michigan missed its final six shot attempts and scored just one point over the final five minutes. The Gophers, behind the strength of Oturu, took advantage and closed the half on an 11-1 run to cut it to 31-30 at the break.
