Gopher Basketball
The Gophers showed from the opening tap that they were focussed on regaining their energy and effectiveness on defense as well as on the boards. The stats show that they succeeded. The Gophers held the Buckeyes to 25% shooting in the first half and 36% for the game. They held them to a season-low 50 points (OSU’s previous low was 56 points in OT the last time Minnesota played them). They had 7 steals and blocked 8 shots. And they dominated the boards 38-25. With the final margin of victory being just 2 points, each of those hustle plays was critical.
For a while, it actually looked like the Gophers might get a comfortable victory. They led for most of the first half and took a 24-19 lead into the break. Minnesota then increased its lead to 12 points by opening the second half with a 7-0 run. But the Ohio State guards began to heat up outside (they made 4 of 8 three-pointers in the 2nd half), and Terence Dials started taking over in the paint (he finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds), and the Buckeyes worked their way back into the game.
Ohio State actually took leads of 48-47 and 50-49 in the final minutes, but Minnesota held strong. Two Vincent Grier free throws overcame the first deficit, and a J’son Stamper hoop inside with 34 seconds left gave the Gophers the lead for good. Aaron Robinson added a free throw to put Minnesota up by two, and OSU’s J.J. Sullinger missed a leaner in the paint at the buzzer to give the Gophers the win. Funny how one shot can cause such a difference of emotions, when you compare Northwestern’s last-second make to Ohio State’s last-second miss. That’s basketball.
While the Gopher offense obviously had some struggles in shooting 43% from the field and scoring just 52 points, it was nice to see some of the balance we were used to earlier in the year. All eight Gophers scored, and six of the eight had at least four field goal attempts. Minnesota’s rebounding was also well balanced, with five different players grabbing at least five boards.
Vincent Grier led the way as usual. While he struggled a bit from the field (6 for 15) and only got to the free throw line twice, he led the Gophers in points (14), rebounds (10), and assists (4). Jeff Hagen scored 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, blocked 7 shots, and had 3 assists.
Dan Coleman had 7 points and 6 rebounds (his rebounding has really improved over the past 6 weeks), Aaron Robinson had 8 points and 2 assists, J’son Stamper had 4 points and 6 rebounds, and Brent Lawson had 5 steals to go along with 2 points and 2 assists.
The Gophers again had some turnover problems, but they took much better care of the ball in the second half, where just 5 of their 14 turnovers occurred. They’re going to keep that up along with their defense, rebounding, and balanced offense, if they’re going to build a winning streak against Iowa Wednesday night.
Here’s the box score.
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