Big Ten Basketball: 3 takeaways from Minnesota’s blowout loss at Northwestern

Solid performance from Jamison Battle

Battle earned preseason All-Big Ten recognition this fall, but the 2022-2023 season has been of a disappointment for the Minnesota native. He missed several games early on with injury and just has not been able to regain his footing over the course of the year, leading to steep drops in nearly all of his numbers.

Finally, it appears as though the veteran is starting to find his stroke once again. He led the team with 20 points, including 7-12 shooting from the field and 2-5 from three-point territory. He’s been more creative in his offense over the last several weeks, taking defenders off the dribble and getting into high-percentage midrange territory. It’s a welcome sight; no other Gopher player, with the possible exception of Garcia, can create in isolation in quite the same way. Battle also hit countless big buckets a season ago, and Minnesota desperately needs a player who can come up huge in crunch time.

There are no off days in the Big Ten, and things won’t get any easier for the Gophers as they look ahead toward their February slate. Things open up with Rutgers on the road at unforgiving Jersey Mike’s Arena and continue with Maryland back in the friendly confines of Williams Arena.

Battle returning to form and the healthy return of Garcia are positives to take away moving forward, but Johnson and his staff may have to get creative if this team has any hopes of adding to their one conference victory.