Gophers Lock Up Dance; Now Face #1

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, six years of demons have finally been vanquished. It’s quite the feeling. Hopefully it’s ok for a grown man to cry, because I do have to confess to being a wee bit misty-eyed both during the closing minutes of the game and also now as I type this.

I’m sure I’m not alone. After five seasons without making the NCAA Tournament (including a couple of near-misses as well as last year’s disaster), getting back there will be sweet. Doing it in a year when optimistic fans felt that even the NIT would be wishful thinking will be even sweeter. And doing it like this – dominating a “play-in game” and making themselves an ironclad lock rather than backing in as a bubble team – is about as sweet as it gets.

The stakes were high, and the Gophers turned in their best performance of the season. This, my friends, was without doubt an NCAA Tournament team on display today. They were sharp, they were focussed, and they were confident. They hit their free throws, they didn’t turn the ball over, they played great defense, they rebounded, and they never let the Hoosiers get an extended run going.

What the bye week did to this Minnesota team was miraculous. After winning ugly for the past several weeks, there was absolutely nothing ugly about the Gophers today. They led throughout the game, leading by as many as 10 points in the first half and taking a 34-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. They got out to a quick start in the second half, then survived an Indiana spurt that got them within 42-40, and ultimately used a 25-7 run to cruise to a 71-55 victory.

It was a total team effort. Brent Lawson and Dan Coleman carried Minnesota’s scoring load in the first half with 20 of the 34 points. In the second, it was Vincent Grier and Aaron Robinson who led the charge. And throughout, it was the solid contributions of Spencer Tollackson, Jeff Hagen, and J’son Stamper that secured the victory. Even Rico Tucker, while playing just 5 minutes and not scoring a point, did a solid job and contributed.

This is a very talented Hoosier team that was playing excellent basketball of late, and the Gophers simply broke their spirit. Indiana needed a win to get in the NCAA Tournament, and they probably needed it more than Minnesota, but that wasn’t evident on the court. The Gophers won the hustle battle and never lost their intensity. Yet, they were also remarkably calm and poised. There was no late-game letdown; no getting overly conservative with the ball. The Gophers kept attacking and never looked back.

Grier led the way with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Lawson had 15 points and 4 rebounds. Robinson finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Coleman had 11 points and 5 rebounds. Hagen put up 7 points, 4 assists, 4 blocks, and 3 rebounds while fouls limited him to 21 minutes. Tollackson chipped in 5 points, 3 blocks, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 16 impressive minutes. Stamper had 3 points and 7 rebounds, and Tucker had a nice assist to Lawson in transition.

Up next is a 12:40 pm Saturday showdown (nationally televised on CBS) with #1 Illinois. And while a Gopher victory would of course be tremendous, in all honesty I could really care less what happens in this game. The Gophers did what they needed to do, and nothing can take that away from them. They took control of their destiny, and come Selection Sunday they’ll be able to sit back and enjoy it.

So will all the misty-eyed fans (as well as those who, like me, had to pause the game to do a little dance after Aaron’s 3-pointer gave the Gophers a 63-47 lead with 7 minutes to play; I just felt a need to dance the demons away).

Here’s the box score.

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