Things that need to end with Gopher basketball (not specific to Pitino, has been going on since we Clem was fired)
1. The comfortable to almost insurmountable lead that is blown: Tonight, the Gophers were up 11 with about 6:30 left. Somehow, that lead completely evaporated in like 2:30 of game play.
2. The missed clutch free throws: Tonight it was Mason going to the line and making 1 of 3 with like a minute left in the game. Kudos to Bakary for knocking down two in a row after clanking his first chance at a one and one.
3. The unlikely to flat out miracle 3 by the opposition to win/tie a game: That was a difficult shot by Carr, not in his "normal" motion/off the dribble/Dupree's hand was right there.
They showed a stat, similar to one I have tracked that the Gophers and Penn State have played a league high 50 games decided by 6 points or less over the the last 6 years. Unsurprisingly, the Gophers are a painful 18-32 in these games (as is Penn State). I bet that record would look even worse for the Gophers if you took out wins where the they were up by like 12 plus with under 3 minutes to play. It's obviously been a combination of horrible luck and poor play, and it would sure be nice if we could turn that number completely around over the next 6 years!
Really liked how this team responded to getting down 20-12 early. I'd be lying if I said anything other than it seemed like they were going to fold and that lead was going to snowball. Instead, they battled back and Mason and Murphy combined for two straight 3 point possessions to quickly turn the game around.
Not enough good can be said about Jordan Murphy's rebounding tonight. He accounted for 19 of the teams 45 rebounds! Because Bakary has such bad hands, there is so much pressure on Murphy to secure almost every defensive board. He did that tonight including several where he was sandwiched between two Penn State defenders and still came down with the ball. If there was one negative to Murphy's game tonight it was that he left his guards out to dry twice on the same action where he didn't come to meet the pass and his defender beat him to the spot and had a breakaway dunk. That can be corrected, but you can't teach what he did on the boards tonight.
In reviewing the box score, I was surprised Dupree wasn't credited for any blocks or steals. He was really active on the defensive end, in addition to his fantastic 8-13 from the floor, 3-4 from three, and 5-6 from FT line. He struggled with Carr at times, but was clearly our best option against him. This Dupree and the Dupree against Indiana were the two best games we've seen from him in conference play. Hopefully, that leg is getting better because we could certainly use this version every night.
Nate Mason was the best player on the floor in the first half. Didn't do as much in the second half which could have been due to even more attention from the PSU defense or from some fatigue from his illness. Regardless, it was nice to see Nate bounce back in a big way.
I was really encouraged by Jamir Harris'play tonight. With the caveat that it was just one game, I loved seeing him take it to the basket several times in the first half as well as look competent as a ball handler, he also had a nice drive and dish to Bakary that should have resulted in a basket. The results were great obviously, but I also loved that he had the stones as a rarely played Freshman to take those two 3's in OT on the road. The second one in particular(off the dribble, from a few feet behind the line) was the type of play that has to excite you.
Finally, the response to the heartbreaking 3 to force OT was tremendous. With the way things have been going for this team/staff/program, you had to worry about how that OT would go. From the jump, Murphy got a nice post up and finish with contact (make the FT Jordan), then Mason found McBrayer who drilled a corner 3. From that point on it was pretty clear the Gophers weren't going to lose this one. Hopefully the fight and resolve they showed tonight in getting a win will be the catalyst to getting this season back on track (or at least avoiding a 6-12 type disaster).
One concern to watch: With two more games this week, the Gophers got just 28 combined minutes from their bench. For the most part, I think minutes is an overblown concern in college (younger bodies recuperate quicker, the game isn't played at the same pace as an NBA game, they play 30-40 games total, etc etc) but in this specific situation it might cause a bit of an issue. Dupree played 41 and is still in a walking boot when not playing, Murphy played 43 and they were 43 really hard minutes of battling for nearly every board, Nate played 45 with an illness, Bakary played 32 which is something I don't think he's done before (or at least since his Sophomore year), and Jamir played 36 which probably triples his career high. That's not to say it wasn't the correct strategy/minute distribution, it absolutely was and this team needed a win in the worst way... just that it might show up in a negative fashion at Maryland on Thursday or against Ohio State in the Garden. Finally, wow did the B1G screw us with this schedule: we lose a home game to play in NYC AND we have to play that game as the final game of a 3 game in 6 day voyage? They talk about "schedule losses" in the NBA, imagine if we were in the B1G title race (actually not that tough to imagine, even with all the setbacks if this team just beats Nebraska and Indiana they would be right there in the standings though not realistically in it ) and a loss in this stretch proved to be pivotal?