Gophers Put Stamp(er) on 63-52 Win

It was an old-fashion Big Ten Barn Burner Wednesday night at Williams Arena as Minnesota used tough defense and offensive patience to defeat Purdue 63-52. The game marked Gene Keady’s last visit to Minnesota and despite a pre-game gift from the Gophers and a standing ovation from the crowd, the Gophers put their “œStamp(er)” on Keady and his Boilermakers.

J’Son Stamper came into the Gopher program with the reputation as a “œtough guy” that loved to hit the boards and do the dirty work for his team, and Wednesday night he did exactly that. Stamper had the Gophers’ first double-double of the season as he finished with a hard-fought 11 points and 10 rebounds. Stamper played an extended role tonight before fouling out as he filled in for Jeff Hagen, who left the game with an injury early in the second half.

After a slow start, Purdue opened its biggest lead 8-4 after a David Teague three-pointer more than six minutes into the game. But Minnesota put on its impressive man-to-man pressure and forced 17 first-half Purdue turnovers. Its defensive pressure led to a huge 18-3 run.

During the run, Spencer Tollackson showed a nice complement of post-moves scoring six points in a two-minute stretch. From there, the Gopher defense held Purdue scoreless for six minutes when Gary Ware hit a jumper cutting the Gopher lead to 22-13. The Boilermakers made a mini-four point run in the last 20 seconds of the first half and closed the Gopher lead to 28-22 at halftime.

Purdue cut the Gopher lead to four points to open the second half, but an Aaron Robinson three-pointer (Aaron “œonly” had two three-pointers tonight) and buckets by Hagen and a put-back slam by Dan Coleman pushed the Gopher lead to 11 points, 35-24.

In typical Keady-coached style, the Boilermakers continued to battle, play tough defense and scrap their way back in the game as they cut the lead to 47-42 with just under six minutes remaining. The Gopher bench was depleted as Hagen missed most of the second half after hitting his face on the court after diving for a loose ball (he did not return after receiving stitches to his chin) and both Coleman and Stamper battled foul trouble.

But just as Purdue was about to get over the hump, Rico Tucker hit a HUGE three-pointer with 5:04 remaining (he also added five steals tonight), giving the Gophers a 51-42 lead. From there, Grier took over and sealed the game at the free throw line, as he hit four of his 10 free throws (he was 10/12 from the line for the game) down the stretch.

The Gophers capped off the game as Tucker had a big steal in transition and hit an open Grier who hit a slashing Tollackson who finished with a monstrous dunk and a foul (let’s just skip the part about Spencer air-balling his free throw). The 63-52 win is the Gophers’ tenth-straight win and improved them to 12-3 and 2-0 in conference play.

This was a significant win for Minnesota as it has relied on its transition game, athleticism and hot shooting to win most of its games so far this season. Tonight, it was tough rebounding, tight man-to-man defense and late-game free throw shooting that proved the difference.

The Gopher big men did a great job of filling in for Hagen after he departed just minutes into the second half. Stamper played his best game as a Gopher and time and time again came down with rebounds and loose balls (including an impressive eight offensive rebounds), that otherwise looked hopeless. Tollackson showed his continued improvement on the offensive end (he finished with eight points) and Coleman added eight rebounds of his own and improved interior defense. The Gophers also held one of the Big Ten’s leading scorers, Carl Landy, to just five field goal attempts.

The Gophers now enter a tough two-game road trip and it all starts Saturday when Minnesota travels to one of its border rivals, Iowa, at 1:30.