Gopher Basketball
This was a great basketball game. Both teams played hard, and both teams played pretty well. Offensively, both teams played very well. The Gophers matched Illinois’ 54% shooting from the field and also knocked down half of their three-point attempts and 71% of their free throws. Minnesota also had just 10 turnovers, which is very good against a quick and athletic team like the Illini. The Gophers also had a slight (26-24) advantage on the boards.
Where this game ultimately was lost was on the defensive end of the court. It’s just very difficult to beat a top team when you allow them to shoot better than 50%. The Gophers had the effort on “˜D’, and Illinois is a very talented offensive team, but there were simply too many defensive breakdowns. Sure, the Illini similarly allowed Minnesota to shoot better than 50%, but they’re the more talented team, and they’re also the team that came up with the most defensive stops in crunch time.
Minnesota’s backcourt trio of seniors played very well in their final game. Vincent Grier led the way with 19 points and 6 rebounds. In the first half especially, Vince was all over the court. Moe Hargrow had a near-perfect game with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field. He also dished out 4 assists. Adam Boone finished with 10 points and 7 assists and did an admirable job of defending the quicker Illini guards. And off the bench, Spencer Tollackson had another very strong offensive performance. He hit 5 of 6 shots to score 10 points in just 23 minutes of playing time.
Up next is a relatively meaningless road game at Northwestern before the Gophers attempt to win four consecutive games in the Big Ten Tournament to earn a miracle trip to the Big Dance. Can’t blame a guy for holding out hope.
Here’s the box score.
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