The team lacked both focus and intensity tonight. The early 7 point lead was lost entirely due to unforced turnovers and you absolutely can't have that on the road. I was also disappointed with the lack of fundamentals on defense (usually very good, but tonight our guys were jumping at shot fakes and taking really low percentage gambles on steals) and the lack of any discernible plan on offense. This was a very frustrating game because in a lot of ways it was there for the taking, but the Gophers seemed like they were down 20 when they were down just single digits. A lot of credit goes to Wisconsin though, they played well and made it difficult early for our bigs to establish themselves. I still think there was money to be made down low if either Elliott or especially Mo (because he's a better scorer) played with a bit of intensity.
Ausin Hollins: 3-6 from the field 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 points. Austin is what he is at this point and that's a role player (maybe not even a starter) on a real contending team.
The announcers mentioned tonight that the Gophers were 2-49 in their last 51 road games against ranked opponents...how is that even possible? You have to be all sorts of pathetic to put together a record like that and this teams has been in the NCAA tournament at least 3 times during that joke of a streak. My own opinion is that we need to recruit attitude in addition to talent. Too many passive players on the Gophers over the years and the guys who've lead us to those rare road wins have had supreme confidence in themselves (ex: Westbrook).
Overall, a very ugly loss, but not an unexpected one. Absolutely have to beat Northwestern on Sunday, or we can start talking about next year.
