A brutally ugly first half of basketball ended with the No. 12 MSU men’s basketball team (18-4 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) trailing No. 18 Minnesota (17-5, 5-4) 20-18 at Breslin Center.

MSU made just four of its first 21 shots and the Golden Gophers weren’t much better, leaving both coaches searching for answers.

Hoping to find a rhythm, MSU head coach Tom Izzo went deep into his normally limited bench, using nine players in the opening nine minutes, including rarely used forwards Alex Gauna and Matt Costello, along with guard Russell Byrd, looking to ignite a spark.

Sophomore guard Travis Trice is sitting out the game with a head injury suffered in the Spartans previous game, against Illinois on Jan. 31.

Yet the adjusted rotation did little for the Spartans offensive woes, as MSU finished the first half shooting 25 percent, with no player making more than half of their shots.

Despite their offensive struggles, MSU managed to take a 13-6 lead midway through the first half after freshman guard Gary Harris connected on one of two first half 3-pointers.

But the Golden Gophers closed the half on a 14-7 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from guard Joe Coleman in the half’s final seconds to give Minnesota the lead at the break.

Guards Keith Appling and Gary Harris each scored six points for MSU, while Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine added three points apiece.

Centers Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix combined for zero points on 0-for-6 shooting for MSU.