Gopher Basketball
The Gophers came out with energy and pressure tonight and applied a full-court trap, which immediately set the tone for the game. After coming off the bench for a few games, freshman Dan Coleman was inserted in the starting lineup tonight and immediately made his presence felt scoring seven of the Gophers first 13 points. Three of those points came off a three-pointer with 15:24 remaining and breaking a 10-10 tie.
After the Coleman three-pointer, the Gophers defense held Michigan to only one field goal in the next six-plus minutes and opened up a commanding 10 point lead before Christ Hunter threw down a dunk.
Michigan fought back as John Andrews scored five straight points and cut the Gopher lead to 24-21, but Jeff Hagen took over in the paint and opened up an 11-point Minnesota halftime lead, 38-27.
Despite too many turnovers, the Gophers played a nearly perfect half as they shot 70% from the field. Hagen played a big role in Minnesota owning the paint as they out rebounded Michigan 14-8 and outscored them 20-8 in the paint in the game’s first 20 minutes. Hagen was his usual dominant self as he tallied eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the first half.
Hagen picked up right where he left off and immediately set the tone for the second half with a dominant first two minutes that included a beautiful assist, two steals, a rebound, a block and a field goal. Behind the play of Hagen and a big Brent Lawson three-pointer, the Gophers opened up a 45-29 lead with 17:25 to play.
The Wolverines chipped away at the Gopher lead and cut it to nine, 47-38, after a 7-0 run with 12:19 remaining in regulation. But just as Michigan clawed its way back to a single digit deficit, the Gophers turned on its transition game again and Vincent Grier and Aaron Robinson took over. Grier and Robinson teamed up to score 12 straight Gopher points as the Gophers opened up a 71-49 lead, before cruising to the 71-54 final.
Hagen led the way for Minnesota with one of his most balanced games in his career as he finished with 15 points (a perfect 5/5 from the field) nine rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals. Grier added 14 points and six rebounds, Robinson netted 13 points (3/5 from three-point land), Coleman had 11 points and five rebounds and Lawson chipped in with seven points and four steals.
The Gophers out rebounded Michigan 27-17 and shot an impressive 62.8% from the field for the game. One facet of the game that the Gopher coaches will harp on is turnovers. Minnesota committed 25 turnovers, which must be drastically cut down if they hope on building on their record.
The win was huge for the Gophers as they improved to 15-6 overall and 5-3 at the halfway point of conference play. Minnesota is now 2-2 on the road in Big Ten play and 3-2 on the road overall. The Gophers will face its rival, #19 Wisconsin on Saturday at The Barn. The game is nationally televised (ESPN2 at 11am CST). Gopher fans are encouraged to wear GOLD.