Gopher Basketball
The offense started out a little slow (it took the Gophers 2+ minutes just to get a shot attempt), but then the seniors stepped up ““ like they needed to. Moe Hargrow was Minnesota’s entire offense in the first 5 minutes on his way to a career-high 24 points. And Adam Boone then continued his hot shooting by hitting 3 three-pointers in the first half en route to 5 for the game and 20 points overall. Freshman walk-on (and future scholarship player) Jamal Abu-Shamala also made an early statement by draining a 22-footer from the top of the arc on way to a career-high 8 points.
Minnesota was still shaky offensively at times, but there were some good signs. One was the good passing from Spencer Tollackson (after 2 early turnovers) and others did when double-teamed in the paint. Another was how the Gophers ““ especially Hargrow ““ looked to push the ball up court on a regular basis. And there was a decent amount of penetrating and kicking out to open shooters. The final turnover number (17) is too high, but much of that came late in the first half; Minnesota took decent care of the ball most of the time.
Offense aside, the highlight of the game was clearly Minnesota’s work in the other two areas ““ defense and rebounding. They’d been disappointing there early on, but they were impressive tonight. Outside of some breakdowns defending the high pick-and-roll, the Gopher “˜D’ was very solid in limiting the Mocs to 46 points and 31% shooting. And the 45-27 (17-8 offensive) advantage on the glass speaks for itself. Getting 16 boards from the starting backcourt didn’t hurt either.
Boone really played a strong game (minus a couple of careless passes) and finished with 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals to go with his 20 points. Hargrow added 7 assists, 6 boards, and 2 steals and also played well. As for Abu-Shamala, it was great seeing him shoot the ball with confidence whenever he had an open look. That’s clearly what he’s been told to do, but it’s not always easy for a freshman to do it. My only critique of him is that I’d like to see him attempt more mid-range jumpers (where he’s deadly) and maybe not quite as many 3-pointers (where he’s good, but not deadly yet).
There totals were low, but Tollackson and Jonathan Williams did a solid job on the boards. Their defense was also solid, although it was rarely challenged. I still want to see more offense from Spencer, although today the Mocs were determined to double him and make him give it up, so this wasn’t a fair test. Dan Coleman had a quiet offensive game again (6 points), but it was nice to see him be more aggressive in other areas ““ especially his 2 blocked shots. And J’son Stamper had his usual big game on the boards with 8 in 29 minutes.
Today still didn’t look like a team I expect to win at Maryland, but it looked a lot better and at least capable of surviving until Grier (and Tucker, and hopefully Payton) returns. That’s all I could ask for in the first game of the Grierless era.
Here’s the box score.
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