Michigan basketball looked about as discombobulated and out of sync as it has all season long on Thursday night in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Wolverines struggled to get in any sort of offensive or defensive rhythm all night long, and it cost them in an 84-81 overtime loss to Minnesota at The Barn.

The first few minutes of the game were indicative of how the contest would go for Michigan. Danny Wolf turned the ball over twice in the first two minutes of the game, with Tre Donaldson adding one of his own to make it three early turnovers for the Wolverines.

Despite poor play in the early going, Michigan led by nine points going into halftime. Wolf played his worst half of the season in the opening 20 minutes, but Will Tschetter, who was back in his home state, stepped up with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc to give the Wolverines a comfortable lead.

In the second half, Minnesota slowly trimmed Michigan's lead and tied the game with 10:17 remaining in regulation. Lu'Cye Patterson and Dawson Garcia were especially productive in the comeback effort.

Down the stretch, Wolf and Garcia traded jabs like fighters in a heavyweight boxing match. With 28 seconds left in regulation, Danny Wolf drilled a critical triple to put the Wolverines up by two points.

But on the ensuing possession, Garcia was fouled by Roddy Gayle Jr., and the savvy veteran converted on both of his free throws to tie the game.

In overtime, Michigan never led. Minnesota got out to an early lead, and the Wolverines tied the game on multiple occasions, but the efforts from Garcia and Patterson down the stretch were too much for Michigan to handle.

Wolf made a layup with seven seconds left in overtime, and Minnesota quickly inbounded the ball. Despite looking confused for about six of the first seven seconds left on the clock, Garcia stepped into a just-inside-half-court 3-pointer and found nothing but net to give the Golden Gophers their first Big Ten win of the season, and also handing Michigan its first conference loss of the year.

Wolf led all Michigan scorers with 23 points. He also recorded 10 rebounds and seven assists. Tre Donaldson (14), Vlad Goldin (18) and Tschetter (15) were the other Wolverines who scored in double-figures.

Roddy Gayle Jr. struggled, scoring just two points on 0-of-6 shooting in 29 minutes of action.

With the loss, Michigan falls to 13-4 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play. It's a tough loss for a Wolverine team that had hopes of winning the Big Ten. This loss will haunt them in that regard.

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