Gophers Continue Strong Play Against Coppin St.

Remember what the #1 concern about the Gophers was this fall? The general consensus was that they had poor outside shooters, and teams would just pack a zone inside and dare Minnesota to shoot. Just a few months later, that defensive philosophy is looking like a recipe for disaster.

The Gophers had yet another strong shooting game Saturday; this time against a team known for its defense. Minnesota shot 12 for 23 from three-point range and had makes from five different players. Seniors Brent Lawson and Aaron Robinson led the barrage, with Brent shooting an unconscious 5 for 6 and Aaron connecting on 3 of 5. Freshman Dan Coleman also hit 2 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Don’t panic, though. Minnesota wasn’t just jacking up shots and living by the ‘3’ (meaning they would also subsequently die by the ‘3’). The Gophers again moved the ball unselfishly on offense and rarely forced a shot. With Jeff Hagen having a bit of an off game (it looked like his foot/ankle was bothering him) and Coppin State collapsing to stop dribble penetration, the Gophers did a nice job of finding open shooters. That led to an extremely comfortable victory.

The game’s first few minutes were a different story, however. Minnesota was a little out of synch, Coppin State had the tempo they wanted, and it looked like it might be an ugly start to the new year (the Eagles like to make it ugly). After trailing 6-4 though, the Gophers quickly snapped out of it. They built a solid 37-21 halftime lead, and then expanded that to 53-29 and 64-31 in the second half. Minnesota eventually led by as many as 37 points before emptying their bench. The reserves unfortunately were not as sharp as the regulars, and they allowed Coppin State to trim the final score to a deceiving 79-58.

Brent Lawson led all scorers with 19 points. He shot 7 for 8 from the field overall and also had an impressive line of 4 steals, 3 assists, and 3 blocked shots. Vincent Grier scored 16 points and also contributed 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Aaron Robinson finished with 11 points, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Dan Coleman had a solid game with 10 points, 4 rebounds (this was the most aggressive I’ve seen him on the boards), and 2 assists in 22 minutes. And Spencer Tollackson had an improved game with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and just 1 turnover (although he did foul out in just 13 minutes of playing time).

Take away the first 4 minutes or so (when they had 6 turnovers) and garbage time, and the Gophers were much sharper with the ball than they have been in recent games. They were also solid defensively and on the boards in addition to their impressive offensive performance.

This was a Coppin State team that lost by just 10 points at Marquette this week and trailed Utah by just 5 points midway through the second half, so their defense has certainly given teams some headaches (they’re allowing just 63 points and 43% shooting on the season despite a nearly cupcake-free schedule). The fact that Minnesota didn’t need too many minutes to overcome their headache and figure out the zone hopefully bodes well for the tough Big Ten defenses that lie ahead.

Here’s the box score.

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