MINNEAPOLIS -- Gophers senior center Ralph Sampson III is supposed to be one of Minnesota's leaders on and off the court, especially with fellow senior Trevor Mbakwe out for the season with an ACL injury.
But in Minnesota's 79-66 loss to Purdue on Sunday, Sampson was seemingly nowhere to be found.
Sampson finished with just two points in 13 minutes and also added three rebounds and two turnovers. It was the fewest points for Sampson since he was held scoreless in 10 minutes against Dayton on Nov. 27. His lone basket Sunday came on a putback to open the scoring in the second half.
Sampson has now had games with zero points, one point and two points this season -- not exactly what the Gophers need from their lone healthy senior.
Minnesota also didn't get much production from junior college transfer Julian Welch, who had been one of the Gophers' most consistent scorers prior to Sunday. He had scored in double figures in 11 of his last 12 games, but had just four points in 22 minutes against the Boilermakers.
Still, junior forward Rodney Williams said the Gophers should be able to overcome off nights by two of their go-to scorers.
"We've got guys on the bench that are going to come out and produce and work hard and do what they've got to do," said Williams, who scored a team-high 19 points. "Everybody has those days. Today was just their day. It just wasn't going for them. Everybody has to be ready because you never know when you're going to come in and get that chance to play. I don't think it'll be another game like this for Ralph and Julian."
Sampson played just three minutes in the second half, while fellow big man Elliott Eliason didn't play at all after halftime. Gophers head coach Tubby Smith said that was partially to adjust to the lineup Purdue was putting on the court, but it definitely meant the Gophers had a smaller team on the floor as they tried to battle back from a 15-point halftime deficit.
"When they go with the small lineup the way they did and us trying to get back into it, it's hard to play our big guys in that situation," Smith said. "We needed speed and quickness. That's why we tried to go with Andre Ingram, because he's quicker than both Elliott and Ralph. When you're behind like that and you're trying to press and trap and rotate, it's hard for those guys . . . to play in that type of game."
Minnesota's second-half effort resulted in the Gophers outscoring Purdue 34-32 after halftime, but even the quicker lineup couldn't cut the deficit enough as Minnesota fell to 0-4 to start the Big Ten season. Without Sampson and Eliason for much of the game, however, Minnesota still won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding Purdue 37-31.
It was the second game in a row in which the Gophers out-rebounded their opponent after losing the battle on the glass in their previous three contests.
"I think we actually ended up beating them on the boards, so that wasn't an area that really hurt us," said Williams, who had a team-high 14 rebounds. "I think more of it was getting the ball inside so that we can finish at the bucket. We took a lot of jump shots and a lot of forced jump shots. Having another big man in there definitely would have helped out a lot."
Still struggling against the 3-ball: All year, Minnesota has struggled to defend the 3-pointer. Statistically, the Gophers were the worst team in the Big Ten against the 3-pointer, allowing opponents to shoot 37.5 percent from downtown.
Sunday's shooting display by the Boilermakers won't help that percentage. Purdue came out firing in the first half, especially guards D.J. Byrd and Ryne Smith. Those two combined to shoot 8 for 8 from downtown in the first half, while senior Robbie Hummel was 2 for 3 as the Boilermakers connected on 10 of 12 3-pointers before halftime.
"I don't know that I've coached against a team that was any hotter than Purdue was today, going 10 of 12 in the first half," Smith said. "There were times when we were near them and D.J. Byrd and Ryne Smith and Robbie Hummel just lit us up. That's been hurting us all year long, but especially those last few minutes of the first half."
Indeed, Purdue used the 3-ball to give itself a cushion at halftime. With the Boilermakers holding a 35-30 lead with 4:12 to play in the first half, Byrd connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give Purdue an 11-point edge. The Boilermakers went into halftime up 47-32.
While Purdue's hot shooting cooled off in the second half -- the Boilermakers were 0-for-3 from long range after halftime -- the damage had already been done from downtown.
"I think we were just a little late on the switches and everything like that. They're fast shooters, so you slide a second late and they're going to be able to get it off," said Minnesota freshman Joe Coleman, who had a career-high 14 points in his first start as a Gopher. "That's what they do best. . . . In the second half, the 3-point shots were definitely limited."
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