BLOOMINGTON, IND. – Ben Johnson's frustration came to a boiling point Monday night. The Gophers' fourth-year basketball coach gave the longest postgame locker room speech he has made with the program — to send a message.

More than 45 minutes went by before Johnson showed up for the news conference after an 82-67 loss to Indiana at Assembly Hall.

"He was calling people out, and everybody in that locker room got held accountable," senior forward Dawson Garcia said.

After double-digit losses to Indiana and Michigan State to open early Big Ten play, Johnson believed his players lacked the toughness, fight and leadership at the moment to compete in the conference.

"We're at that stage right now where we have to figure out internally what our habits look like," Johnson said. "And do those habits impact winning? Does it put us in a position to be a competitive team and try to win games in our league? Because this league is unforgiving."

The Gophers (6-5, 0-2 Big Ten), who lost their ninth consecutive game in the series against the Hoosiers, will be in deep self-reflection mode before Big Ten play resumes next month.

"It's embarrassing, and everybody has to feel that," said Garcia, who scored a team-high 22 points. "He was just saying, if you're going home tonight not taking that loss personally, then you're just a loser at the end of the day."

BOXSCORE: Indiana 82, Gophers 67

After seven lead changes in the first 10 minutes, the Gophers went scoreless from the field for more than seven minutes to fall into a hole they couldn't escape.

After taking a 22-20 advantage, the Gophers would suffer through a dry spell and fail to score another field goal until just under four minutes left in the half. They were outscored 16-1 during one stretch to trail 44-31 at halftime.

The Hoosiers (8-2, 1-0), who shot 57% for the game, had five players in double-figure scoring with Oumar Ballo, Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako combining for 47 points and 17 rebounds.

Defense was something the Gophers took pride in for the first month of the season, but they've fallen apart in that area in conference play. Michigan State was the first opponent to shoot better than 50% from the field against Minnesota and scored 27 transition points in the Gophers' 90-72 loss at Williams Arena on Wednesday.

Minnesota had eight of its 12 turnovers in the first half lead to easy offense for the Hoosiers, who had 18 fast-break points and 42 points in the paint. Even when the Gophers were in position, they appeared helpless at times. They were overmatched in the post, late on closeouts and were getting beat to loose balls.

A 21-point deficit was cut to 68-55 after Brennan Rigsby's layup with 7:27 remaining, but the Gophers fouled Ballo and Reneau on consecutive possessions. The latter play was made worse when Mgbako rebounded a missed free throw and scored. Indiana had 14 second-chance points.

"Those are backbreakers because they made us pay," Johnson said. "You expend so much energy getting that stop when you got a chance to get that 50-50 ball … and you don't get that, it's deflating. That's what we talked about. If they can get it, we can get it."

Mike Mitchell Jr. returned to the Gophers' starting lineup Monday for the first time since a high-ankle sprain Nov. 9. Mitchell and Lu'Cye Patterson finished with 10 points apiece for the Gophers, who don't play again until Dec. 21 against visiting Farleigh Dickinson.

"We just have to play harder out there and play more together," Mitchell said. "Take accountability and get on each other more."