***OFFICIAL MINNESOTA VS CLEMSON ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE IN-GAME THREAD***

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Clemson had two really good players but we had a better team effort. The star is obvious but really good games by Joey, Buggs, and Mason, too. Dorsey had a good game as well, better than will show in the box score.
 

Love watching the young guys get better. Murphy was the first to blossom but I'm still super high on Dorsey and McBrayer as well. All 3 look like they belong on the floor.
 

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Wow. Two games in a row with incredibly entertaining offensive basketball. Team is fun to watch!
 


Fun game. I was starting to panic with Mason not out there around the 7 minute mark, but he got in there and helped secure the victory.
 

Unregistered User said:
Haha...true.

Although the announcers have done a nice job of talking up the "atmosphere" at the Barn, and have been complimentary about the Barn the whole game.
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I get to listen to Dave Flemming a lot during baseball season, as I get most all of the SF Giants games on Comcast Bay Area. He is always a class act.
 

Couple flashes of "what is to come" from Pitino and the gang. I'm still in the camp that they just don't have everything "installed" yet seeing as the on the "veteran leaders" are not basketball IQ guys and the rest of the team is soo damn young. McBrayer doesn't add much, but he also doesn't cost us anything on the court, very similar freshman feel to what Austin Hollins brought his freshman season, he's out there, you just don't know it. Sometimes that's not a bad thing.

Dorsey is going to be a nice player once he gets his touch around the rim figured out. He's getting to the rim free and clear, just seems to be forcing the ball to the rim in a hope to not get blocked or something....

Nice game by Buggs, dude is INSANELY athletic, just wish he could contain it. Cool thing is he has another 1.75 seasons to figure it out.

This year will be a lot of fun to watch when they play like they did tonight. It'll be really ugly some nights as well as the secrets about Murphy will get out quite quickly.

I cannot help but get excited about "next year" already though. Just a TON of depth if Fitzgerald and Lynch coming into the fold. Curry, Coffey and Hurt while only losing King and Morris?!?! Thats going to be a lot of fun. These freshman are going to get a TON of great learning experience this year, and I was excited to see some POSITIVE coaching from Pitino tonight.
 

cjbfbp said:
Pitino does it again. Follows up a disappointing holiday tournament performance with a win over an ACC team. He's 3-0 in this challenge.
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Shhhh! Don't tell the ACC ADs.... Pitino to Wake Forest rumors next!
 



I think tonight it was clear who should be on the court and who should not. The team played much better when Carlos was out! Clearly Pitino agreed.

McBrayer and Dorsey add a defensive element to the game that helped turn the tide. Still working on their offense, but they did make enough free throws down the stretch. Gave Mason some time to catch his breath and he came in and ran the show down the stretch.

Buggs belongs on the court. No matter how frustrating he can be at times, we need his length and athleticism.

Jordan Murphy was the best player period! He will be fun to watch. He will gain more minutes and Carlos will gain the pine. Good move for a coach looking for the future.
 

The team grew up a bit tonight and played very well in the second half. Learning to win and close out games is big!
 

Don't count out Buggs for next year either. As I said last year, I think he just needs game experience, and it seems Pitino definitely will give him that this year. Next year will be exciting !! This year, we will probably be brutal, but we will upset some teams for sure!
 




Wait, I thought last spring that many, many people here were predicting that Buggs was THE most likely to transfer.
 

Great win! Jordan Murphy will be fun to watch. Hopefully he continues to develop. Dorsey played some solid defense in the 2nd half and same with McBayer. Joey King has really become a solid offensive player. He's more than just his pump fake now. Konate is...ugh.

The barn was a morgue tonight though. It was quite sad. The student section didn't cheer once for the first 19 minutes aside from some occasional clapping. This isn't your parent's barn.
 

We'll have our ups and downs this year, but the future looks bright. What a night for Jordan Murphy!!!
 

mnsportsgeek said:
The barn was a morgue tonight though. It was quite sad. The student section didn't cheer once for the first 19 minutes aside from some occasional clapping. This isn't your parent's barn.
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The student section was unimpressive, but considering how small the crowd was, I thought people gave them great support in their come back. Bad luck to have the first winter storm tonight. The roads were just fine there and back, but we wondered if we were crazy heading out into it. I just couldn't stand the idea of missing the best home preseason game
 

JMWZ said:
This might Pitino's signature win. I know we won the NIT, but those wins were with Tubby's guys. These are Pitino's players and I believe his biggest win with them.
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No. Clemson is not good. Winning at MSU, no matter who's players they are is 10x more impressive.

That said, good win. Murphy should start. 4, 5. Don't care. Let the kid play.

Yes, the Barn was a bit sad tonight. Re-mindful of the last time we played Clemson (Monson's last game)
 

Moonlight said:
The student section was unimpressive, but considering how small the crowd was, I thought people gave them great support in their come back. Bad luck to have the first winter storm tonight. The roads were just fine there and back, but we wondered if we were crazy heading out into it. I just couldn't stand the idea of missing the best home preseason game
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I agree- the barn started out dead but when the players got into it the fans got going. The second half was really fun and there was plenty of enthusiasm. If not for the snow I think it would have been a loud place tonight.
 

Yeah, it was disappointing to see how empty it was. I would have gone myself if not for the snow storm, and I'd guess I'm not the only one.
 

Kicking myself for not going, what a great game. You have to give this young team a lot of credit for coming out after a disappointing effort in tourney and notching a couple of impressive wins. I'm glad Pitino is sticking with line ups that work and taking some risks. Murphy's performance was huge, but Dorsey's on ball defense in the second half played a big role in stifling Clemson's offense and preventing them from getting into half court sets. Great response from this team.
 

So what was the main reason for the poor attendance? Over the TV half the country away, looked like a really bad showing in the stands tonight for a good, entertaining game on national TV; perhaps the worst I can recall seeing at Williams Arena. Did a big snowstorm actually happen?
 

cncmin said:
So what was the main reason for the poor attendance? Over the TV half the country away, looked like a really bad showing in the stands tonight for a good, entertaining game on national TV; perhaps the worst I can recall seeing at Williams Arena. Did a big snowstorm actually happen?
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Yeah, freezing rain/sleet/snow.
 

cncmin said:
So what was the main reason for the poor attendance? Over the TV half the country away, looked like a really bad showing in the stands tonight for a good, entertaining game on national TV; perhaps the worst I can recall seeing at Williams Arena. Did a big snowstorm actually happen?
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Yes, today (continuing now and through the night) was the first real snow storm of the season. The roads were really bad. I almost didn't go and I'm a pretty hardcore fan. I actually thought that the attendance was pretty good given the weather conditions, and likewise thought that the people who were there made as much noise as you can expect with so many empty seats. Obviously not going to be one of my biggest Williams Arena memories, but it was a fun game and an encouraging win.
 

I want to to start with the caveat that their is still a lot to be concerned about with this team. That said, the Gophers were playing critical second half minutes with a lineup of 3 freshman, Buggs, and King and holding their own against a high major team. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this game was the Gophers not wilting after Clemson had a fluky 4 point possession that cut that made it a one possession game. So many times a sequence like that has been the turning point in Gopher games in recent seasons.

Obviously, Murphy was the star tonight. A couple nice drives to the basket, the highlight tip in dunk in the first half and the huge tip in late in the second to put the game away. What makes the kid hard to guard is how well he handles the ball for a 4/5 (obviously not a real 5, but plays it on occasion for the Gophers). Dorsey's defense, especially on the ball, was excellent and you could see why Pitino left him in for what seemed like the entire second half. I thought McBrayer was very good on the defensive end too, and really notice some great off the ball denials by him. McBrayer learned quickly from one mistake pass and the next time he had the ball in transition made a great decision to find Buggs for a corner 3 (missed, but the important point was he didn't try the low percentage passes he had the opportunity to try on that possession).

What King is doing shooting the basketball deserves recognition. He's simply on fire from just about anywhere right now.

Edit: Forgot to add that the crowd looked bad on TV. Early in the game a lot of the best seats were glaringly empty, and later in the game a few shots showed an almost completely empty upper deck behind one of the baskets. That said, the crowd sounded noticeably loud on TV during the second half and they also got some good shots of a very energized student section in the second half. So, some good and some bad as far as the aesthetics of the Barn/crowd went.
 

Cayman said:
We also have the second longest active winning streak in the challenge: 5 in a row. I think it might be Duke who is ahead of us with 7 or so.
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That's another misleading stat that puts us right behind Duke--love it. Those announcers loved talking about the non-conference home win game streak.

When will be ever see an average ACC opponent? That's not that much to ask for after this many years in a row
 

Moonlight said:
The student section was unimpressive, but considering how small the crowd was, I thought people gave them great support in their come back. Bad luck to have the first winter storm tonight. The roads were just fine there and back, but we wondered if we were crazy heading out into it. I just couldn't stand the idea of missing the best home preseason game
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That's how it seemed on TV. The second half it sounded like people were really into it and it sounded quite loud for the size of the crowd. I can't remember the last time a Gopher bball game was this fun to watch.

I was pretty disappointed to see the crowd, particularly considering how few decent opponents we play in non-conference. I moved out of state recently for grad school so I didn't see the weather. I heard it wasn't bad at all though. I know it was supposed to be worse but that sure as hell wouldn't have stopped me.
 

Every time Joey shoots a three there's no doubt in my mind it's going in. Haven't had that feeling since Hoffarber. His shot looks so much better now too. Not that it's that pretty, but it used to be a laser that barely went above the rim.

Random thought, but Buggs is looking nice with that jab step before the three. Some of his quick drives tonight were absurd, even if he didn't score. He gets to the hoop so quickly with those huge strides and leaping ability. Buggs aggressively driving and also hitting threes is huge for us. Both open things up for the team. I also think players like him driving will open up a lot of opportunities for Murphy to get putbacks or at least offensive boards.
 

Offense should be fine. It's the team defense that really needs to improve. If that happens we could surprise some people. If not, likely the bottom 4 finish everyone expects.
 

Moonlight said:
The student section was unimpressive, but considering how small the crowd was, I thought people gave them great support in their come back. Bad luck to have the first winter storm tonight. The roads were just fine there and back, but we wondered if we were crazy heading out into it. I just couldn't stand the idea of missing the best home preseason game
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Roads weren't fine where I was (EP). Left for game at 6, fishtailed and then went off road near Prairie Center Drive, then turned around and went back home. Fortunately didn't get stuck on the incline and was able to pull back out onto 212 and take the next exit. After that it became an enjoyable game (the 2nd half anyways) to watch from the couch!
 

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