BleedGopher
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Per Marcus:
After a jovial locker room celebration with players Wednesday night, coach Ben Johnson didn't hesitate to call the comeback vs. Nebraska, the most important win of his Gophers tenure.
There are several layers to that statement.
The Gophers men's basketball team (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) beating the Cornhuskers at home might not seem like a major achievement. After all, Nebraska placed higher than 11th in the Big Ten just twice in the past decade. The Gophers finished at least that high four times under Richard Pitino, whom Johnson replaced in 2021.
The win was significant because the Gophers overcame losing their leading scorer, Dawson Garcia, to an ankle injury. They also battled back after trailing by 15 points at halftime. They were 1-19 last season and 0-2 this season when trailing after 20 minutes.
"We're far from a finished product," Johnson said. "But we can get so much better, it's scary. I'm happy about this because this is something they can fall back on. And it shows that they can win and can pull through. They're tougher than they think."
What else made Wednesday's Nebraska victory so meaningful? Perception is everything. It muted Johnson's critics for a night after earlier U losses to Missouri, San Francisco, and Ohio State.
"I know what the narrative is if we're playing bad," Johnson said, referring to chatter that Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle might have to make another coaching change.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
After a jovial locker room celebration with players Wednesday night, coach Ben Johnson didn't hesitate to call the comeback vs. Nebraska, the most important win of his Gophers tenure.
There are several layers to that statement.
The Gophers men's basketball team (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) beating the Cornhuskers at home might not seem like a major achievement. After all, Nebraska placed higher than 11th in the Big Ten just twice in the past decade. The Gophers finished at least that high four times under Richard Pitino, whom Johnson replaced in 2021.
The win was significant because the Gophers overcame losing their leading scorer, Dawson Garcia, to an ankle injury. They also battled back after trailing by 15 points at halftime. They were 1-19 last season and 0-2 this season when trailing after 20 minutes.
"We're far from a finished product," Johnson said. "But we can get so much better, it's scary. I'm happy about this because this is something they can fall back on. And it shows that they can win and can pull through. They're tougher than they think."
What else made Wednesday's Nebraska victory so meaningful? Perception is everything. It muted Johnson's critics for a night after earlier U losses to Missouri, San Francisco, and Ohio State.
"I know what the narrative is if we're playing bad," Johnson said, referring to chatter that Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle might have to make another coaching change.
Gophers coach Ben Johnson called the Nebraska win the most important of his career
Beating Nebraska, which has typically been near the bottom of the Big Ten, may not seem like a big deal. But the come-from-behind victory made Gophers coach Ben Johnson feel things are moving in the right direction.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
