Gophers Get 1st Victory in Style: 61-42 Over Hoosiers

Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy. Minnesota’s first Big Ten victory has been a long time coming, but this one was worth the wait. Inspired by an unexpected starting lineup which included Jamal Abu-Shamala and Zach Puchtel, the Gophers got off to a quick start and never looked back. Not a bad way to head into their bye week.

We’ve been waiting all season for the Gophers to turn in a complete 40-minute performance, and that’s exactly what they did in this one. They came out with tremendous energy and surprising confidence, which got the crowd into the game from the start. And they didn’t have an extended letdown the entire game; there were no Hoosier runs, and the outcome was never (except maybe to paranoid Gopher fans) in doubt.

Zach’s boxscore of 6 points and 3 rebounds seems quite modest, but his 29 minutes of smothering defense against Marco Killingsworth made him the game’s MVP in my book. J’son Stamper matched Zach’s energy on the defensive end and had a strong offensive game, finishing with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Vincent Grier also had a great game. He started slowly offensively (although still finished with 17 points on 50% shooting), but he was a monster on the boards all game (game-high 10 rebounds) and also passed the ball well and played tight “˜D’.

And the list doesn’t stop there. Spencer Tollackson was very strong in his 11 minutes with 8 points and 3 boards. Adam Boone dished out 9 assists and only had 2 turnovers in 32 minutes. And Jamal knocked down 3 of his 6 shot attempts (the 3 that missed were in and out) to finish with 7 points in 25 minutes.

The Gophers didn’t get this victory with talent (because Indiana has a lot of talent). They got it with hustle and teamwork. And they had a lot of fun doing it. A hot-shooting first half (62%) helped, but the Gophers were able to win the second half as well despite shooting just 40%. That’s because their defense was outstanding throughout. The rotation and help were the best we’ve seen this year, and that took a lot of pressure off of the Gopher offense. So did their domination of the boards in the first half.

With the stress of being winless now gone, hopefully the Gophers can duplicate this effort and build on this momentum when they get back to action next weekend. Until then, enjoy the “˜W’.

Here’s the box score.

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