B1G Game 15: Gophers host Ducks (2-16-25)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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It was the second round of the 2018 NCAA tournament, during the Duck dynasty, when Oregon and Minnesota last met.

In Eugene, the Ducks, led by Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hubbard and Satou Sabally, took apart the Gophers 101-73. Ionescu’s 29 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds did most of the damage. Carly Wagner, Destiny Pitts and Kenisha Bell each played 40 minutes; but couldn’t stem the onslaught. Oregon eventually lost in the Elite 8 to “date with destiny” champions Notre Dame 74-84.

Head coach Kelly Graves’ move from Gonzaga had paid quick dividends. The Ducks won three PAC 12 titles, went to three Elite 8’s and a Final Four. Plus, there were two more NCAA appearances. But that was then. Graves, now entering his 11th season, saw last season’s team free fall to last place in the now defunct PAC 12. The Ducks dropped their final 14 conference games, finished 2-16 and watched players scurry into the portal. Two former Ducks, Chance Gray (Ohio State) and Grace Van Slooten (Michigan State) made their way to the Big Ten.

Graves searched the portal and came away with one of the prizes, Deja Kelly, the 5’8” graduate guard from North Carolina who is averaging 10.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 31.4 minutes. Kelly was one of seven transfers brought in to refloat the Ducks. Oregon (8-6) relied heavily on the transfers to defeat rival Washington on Wednesday night 68-67.

Graves sent out a four-guard offense against the Huskies led by the aforementioned Deja Kelly. Kelly, whose scoring has lagged her 16 ppg during her All ACC run with Tar Heels, got loose for a season high 21 points including the winning free throws.

5’10” junior guard Elisa Mevius transferred from Sienna where she was MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. Mevius averages 5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 23.3 minutes. She broke out for 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals against Washington.

The post in the four-guard line up was 6’8” senior Phillipina Kyei. The four year Duck averages 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 21.8 minutes. She had 11 points and 5 rebounds versus the Huskies.

6’0” sophomore guard Sofia Bell averages 3.4 points and 1.8 rebound in 20.5 minutes. She will occasionally connect on a three pointer.

Rounding out Wednesday’s starters was Nani Falatea. The BYU transfer averages 8.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 24.2 minutes.

Other Players of note:

6’4” junior forward Amina Muhammad averages 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.8 minutes. The Texas transfer has started every Big Ten game except the last two (UCLA and Washington).

6’2” graduate forward Alexis Whitfield averages 3.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.6 minutes. The UC Santa Barbara transfer was an All Big West first team selection.

5’8” graduate guard Peyton Scott averages 8.6 points and 2.7 rebounds in 24.5 minutes. Scott returned to the court after missing the previous two games with a knee injury, She had started every game before the injury.

You probably noticed that Oregon is not an offensive juggernaut. They are 17th in conference scoring at 60.9 barely ahead of Purdue. However, the Ducks do hold their opponents to 62.4 points per game which is 4th best in the B1G. Be prepared for a slug fest. Although, any match-up between Gopher and Duck mascots makes me smile.
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Let’s hope we fill the barn on Sunday. This is a huge game against a very talented team and very physical team. This will be quite the challenge as the gophers will have one day less to prepare and one day less of recovery. It seems crazy that we have been on the short end of recovery and preparation a lot this season. No favors given by the Big ten scheduling committee.
Oregon has surely lost lots of talent and players over the past several years. However they have the money and just pay for new players and have bought a very talented and physical team. I guess this is the way of college basketball these days. I hope that our athletic dept can put investment on the Women’s side as well as dinkytown athletics. Let’s find a way to win on Sunday. The one thing that appears to be the norm for this team is they will scrap to make this game entertaining and competitive. Go Goohers
 

They have proven to be tough competitors. Limit the TO’s, finish @ the rim n shoot an average % from 3 . They rarely lack good D but need more consistency on the offensive end. Go Gophers - beat those Ducks !
 

Looks like ticket sales are strong. Let’s hope the home crowd provides energy to beat the Ducks. Agree with the statement that Gophers have been on the short end of recovery with many of the games. Looks like after Oregon and at Purdue they get a week between games. Go 2-0 and take a well deserved break and finish the regular season strong!
 

Go Gophs! Bummer I won’t get to watch the game today so keep the updates coming!
 


Let’s GO, Dinkytown Ladies on a roll.
 

Hopefully that half court shot fires up the Gophers.
 





Not a good end to the 2nd half. Sloppy turnovers gave up the arc shots again which the Ducks made.
 

Bad 2nd. Turnovers/sloppy. Too much dribbling. Letting the clock run down. Need to step it up.
 







Seem fatigued and unable to get things going now and Oregon is making us pay.
 





Well have to see if we find a way to not give up another game and make a comeback...Lets go!
 

Bubble might burst in 10 minutes if they can't come back
 


Battle and GG with 10 TO’s and Ducks 20 points off of TO’s. Hard to win a game with stats like that.
 





Ugh in a game you absolutely needed to have at home and you commit 17 TO’s. Not a good look. Many of theTO’s we unforced. Maybe they were tired maybe they played too tight. Either way very disappointing. Our offense is not very good
 

Will be interesting to see where we fit in the NCAA picture now. Played a lot of top teams tough and each W is good W, but our top 2 wins are Illinois and Indiana at home. Get Purdue now in 3 days again on the road which is a MUST WIN!
 

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