Not Even Close

We knew it could get ugly, and it did. Minnesota was no match for a very talented Michigan State team, especially on a night when they shot the ball extremely well. The Spartans won 79-43, and it wasn’t that close (they led 44-15 at the half). The Gophers played hard though, so you can’t fault them.

There’s just no way you can five good players away from a team (Broxsie, Nathaniel, Bauer, Bickerstaff, Przybilla) and expect them to compete on the road against a very good team. What you can expect them to do is give 100%, and for the most part I think the Gophers did that. They couldn’t hit a shot to save their lives (they started 5 for 25), and they were clearly out-manned, but I didn’t see a lack of effort. Their half court defense actually made the Spartans work most of the time. It was also encouraging to see them commit only 13 turnovers, which is a big improvement from past road games.

No Gopher had a great game, but Dusty Rychart probably had the best. He finished with 10 points on 4 for 6 shooting. Shane Schilling scored 9 points, but he really struggled with his shooting. Ryan Keating had a team-high (along with Terrance Simmons and Kevin Burleson) 3 assists, one of which was an especially nice pass to Ryan Wildenborg with the shot clock running down. Keating missed the two shots he took, but he was definitely more aggressive offensively than he has been in his other appearances.

Michigan State had very balance scoring. Mike Chappell led the way with 18 points. Morris Peterson (13 points), Mateen Cleaves (12 points), and Charlie Bell (11 points) also scored in double-figures. The Spartans look like they’ll end the season as co-champions along with Ohio State. Since Minnesota plays the Buckeyes on Saturday, we’ll be in a good position to see who is the better team.

Talk about Minnesota Gopher basketball topics on the Tubby’s Barn message board.