Gopher Basketball
| Game Info | |
| Opponent: | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| When: | 5:40 pm, March 10th, 2006 |
| Where: | Conseco Fieldhouse ““ Indianapolis, IN |
| Television: | ESPN Full Court |
As the old adage goes, it’s very difficult to beat the same team three times in a college basketball season. While I’ve never agreed with that adage, I’m very glad it proved true Thursday afternoon. Because after dominating Minnesota twice this season, Michigan wound up losing the game the mattered most. Up next for Minnesota is 2nd-seeded Iowa at 5:40 pm Friday.
Things were not looking good for Gopher fans early on in this one. The Gophers came out flat, and cold, and sloppy, and it almost looked like they were ready to call it a season. Fortunately, the Wolverines didn’t look much better, which enabled Minnesota to escape to the locker room down just 27-23.
Then, somebody must have talked a little pep, because the Gophers were a new team in the second half. They stepped up their defense, clamping down on the Wolverines pretty good in the halfcourt and making them look lazy by running after steals. The Gophers also crashed the boards hard, paced by Zach Puchtel‘s career-high 15. That covered for a cold offense and horrendous free throw (15 for 28 overall and 5 for 12 in the final two minutes).
Moe Hargrow led the way with 15 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals in a very solid performance. Vincent Grier finished with 11 points after being shut out in the first half, and his defense was the main reason Daniel Horton was held to half of his average from the first two meetings. Dan Coleman had a good game with 10 points and 7 rebounds. And Adam Boone and Spencer Tollackson each scored 9 points, with Spencer really kickstarting the Gophers in the second half before picking up his 4th foul.
As for Iowa, the Gophers have looked like the better team in both of their two meetings this season. A potential road victory slipped away in triple OT back in January, but Minnesota won handily (74-61) in The Barn a few weeks ago. For those of you who do believe in the adage I mentioned at the start, letting that first game slip away was a good move by the Gophers, and should mean a victory in this one. My one key for this game is simply to duplicate their last performance against Iowa. That should do it. My prediction: Minnesota 68 Iowa 65.
Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.