Ben Johnson was an assistant on the Gophers men’s basketball team the first time the program won at Maryland, in 2017.

The fourth-year head coach desperately wanted to be part of another victory in College Park on Monday night after his Gophers arrived with a five-game losing streak to open Big Ten play.

The Gophers gave the Terrapins a scare in the first half, but they had no match late for freshman Derik Queen in a 77-71 loss at Xfinity Center.

Queen scored a career-high 27 points, including 18 points in the second half.

“Got comfortable. Got into a rhythm. Got off to that good start,” Johnson said on postgame radio. “But it comes down to we had some empty possessions. We had 16 turnovers and I think they scored 15 points off those turnovers. In a two-possession game, we just have to be able to take care of the ball better.”

Dawson Garcia, who finished with 21 points, scored a layup with five seconds left, making it 75-71 after the Gophers trailed by double digits, but the comeback effort came too late thanks to turnovers and fouls.

Isaac Asuma and Lu’Cye Patterson finished with 15 points apiece, but the Gophers shot only 35% after halftime and had 11 fouls in the second half.