MINNEAPOLIS — With 5 1⁄2 minutes left in the first half Wednesday night against Michigan State, Gophers senior Payton Willis dove for a loose ball on the sideline that rolled just out of his reach.
Willis took a deep breath before his head coach Ben Johnson pulled him up off the floor. Johnson appreciated the hustle. His team wasn't about to lose the effort battle.
Playing their first nationally ranked opponent this season, the Gophers had enough fight to keep it close in the end, but suffered their first loss of the season 75-67 to No. 19 Michigan State.
Johnson's Gophers (7-1) were coming off a second straight road win Sunday at Mississippi State when they pulled off the upset win after jumping out to a big lead.
Playing in front of a packed home crowd Wednesday didn't help Minnesota to get off to another hot shooting start against the Spartans, one of the top defensive teams in the country.
Senior Eric Curry had 10 of his career-high 18 points in the first half, but the Gophers shot just 2-for-11 from three-point range to trail 37-24 at halftime. They shot 6-for-23 from deep on the night.
The Gophers entered the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in three-point shooting percentage defense (23.1%), but Michigan State made six of its 10 shots from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Barn erupted when Willis scored in transition plus the foul off a steal to cut Minnesota's deficit to 23-19 with 5:48 left in the first half, but the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run to stay in control.
In the second half, the Gophers had a chance to cut an 18-point deficit to single digits after Jamison Battle's three-pointer just under 15 minutes to play made it 48-37. Malik Hall and Gabe Brown, who were mismatches with their length and athleticism at 6-8, answered with back-to-back jump shots.
Defense had been a big part of the Gophers undefeated start. They faced an opponent Wednesday that was superior with their size, toughness, and physicality, but Johnson's players stayed true to their identity in the end.
Sean Sutherlin, who missed Sunday's game with a knee injury, ignited the fans when he jumped on a pass from A.J. Hoggard and finished the turnover with a dunk to cut it to 64-55 with 3:55 left.
Brown, who tied for the team-high with 15 points, put a stop to Minnesota's run with a three-pointer to extend it to a 12-point Michigan State advantage.
The Spartans started to get comfortable down the stretch, which led to one last rally for the comeback kids. The Gophers, who won several nail-biting games this season, got within 73-67 after Luke Loewe's three-pointer off a steal, but it was too late.
The Gophers, who play Saturday at Michigan, were arguably the biggest surprise team in the Big Ten going into early conference play, but their nonconference schedule was relatively soft until winning at Mississippi State.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo typically loads up his non-league schedule, which included their only losses so far against No. 3 Kansas and No. 6 Baylor this season.
