Mike Mitchell Jr. had a season-high 10 assists for the Gophers, who shot 53% from the field and had 22 assists.

The Ducks, who were tied for fourth place with Wisconsin in the Big Ten before Saturday, were led by Brandon Angel’s 18 points, but leading scorer and rebounder Nate Bittle was scoreless in 24 minutes.

The turning point for the Gophers came from a players-led meeting after the 80-59 loss at Wisconsin on Jan. 10. They were 0-16 vs. ranked opponents under Johnson following that game.

“That didn’t faze me at all,” Johnson said. “That’s part of being a winner — being able to handle adversity against a really good opponent. Sometimes you have to go through that. We wouldn’t be here today if we didn’t have to go through some of that.”