Gopher Basketball
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter:
-Thought Hoffarber and Johnson had a great match-up between the two…mentioned that he’s got such a quick trigger, chich makes him tough to defend
-Thought they played well today, out-rebounding Minnesota by 10 and committing fewer than 10 turnovers, but Minnesota was a great team and they played well tonight
-Said that Purdue wanted to get a quick two-pointer out of the timeout, but Minnesota switched defenses and foiled that plan
-Said when they were down by nine, they did a nice job of getting back in the game and making a run. In the end, though, Minnesota made one more play than Purdue in the game, and that’s all it took tonight
-Said that Trevor Mbakwe is an impact player, regardless of whether he had the numbers on this particular night. You have to give him attention, and compared him to Maurice Lucas. Also credited the Minnesota staff with the improvement of Ralph Sampson
Minnesota Head Coach Tubby Smith:
-Hard fought game by both teams, with both teams scoring on most of their possessions in the first half
-Very proud of the way the team played in this game, and especially the ability to rally around each other in the face of some outside adversity
-Thought tonight the Gophers believed they could win
-Purdue is a very good team…Johnson is very difficult to stop
-Thought the Gophers did a great job of contesting shots, especially late in the game
-On Hoffarber, he believes that stamina and conditioning are things that he has developed over the years, as well as his determination. They have changed some things as well in order to get him more shots
-Thought Rodney Williams did a nice job of shutting down Moore, as well as Hoffarber, making him shoot deeper than he would like
-Thought the post men did a nice job of getting out and picking up screens in the game
-Coach Smith thought the team did a better job of challenging shots in the second half, particularly on the pick-and-roll and the outside shooters
-On being 2-3, he said he felt good about tonight, but noted that “I believe we should be 5-0, to be honest.”
-He mentioned they took care of the ball much better tonight, only committing eight turnovers
-On Mbakwe not having a great game, Smith bristled, saying “he had 10 rebounds. I don’t care if he scores one point.”
Senior Guard Blake Hoffarber:
-Thought tonight the rim just looked bigger than usual, and that he felt he was going to make every shot tonight
-Said they believed they were a better team than 1-3, and that they need to take care of their home court advantage in order to get back it the Big Ten race
-Thought they did a great job defensively on Moore, as well as Ryne Smith
-Said the team is pretty happy to be able to beat a Top 10 team at home in front of a sellout crowd at the Barn, but that they need to get back to work tomorrow and not avoid a letdown against Iowa
-Said that when Mbakwe is in the game, it is one more person a team has to focus on, which is huge
-Said throughout his career he has been mostly a 3-point threat, and he’s been working more on curls, pull-ups and jumpers and things showed tonight
-Noted that the first half was crazy with everything seemingly working for them
-Said he was disappointed by the 2-3 start, and that they had chances to win all the games they had lost and that it’s difficult to have those games at your fingertips and lose them
-Said home court advantage is crucial in college basketball, and that the crowd is typically a factor regardless of where you play. Said they need to make sure teams feel uncomfortable to come into Williams Arena as well
-Noted that everyone as a team wanted to “prove that we can beat them,” again noting the close losses to Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State
-Said the team ran some good plays tonight, and that he was personally waiting on his screens a little more tonight than usual
-Said that any time you win a game like this, it’s a great feeling, but that he hopes there are many more games like this one in the future
-Noted that they did a better job tonight of putting together a complete game, as opposed to having one good half and one bad half. Added, however, that they can do better
-Mentioned that Al Nolen’s three-pointer will give him confidence, and that he’s been telling Nolen to continue to shoot the open 3’s, noting that a slump from the outside will only last until the next big shot
-Said that it’s probably the biggest win he’s had in his career, but doesn’t want it to be that way by season’s end