Hot-Shooting Gophers Handle Crusaders

We were so close. It almost happened in the first half. And then, in the closing seconds of the game, there was one more chance. But the opportunity slipped away. No, the Gophers didn’t lose their 4th game in a row. They handled Holy Cross 72-56. What I’m talking about is Rico Tucker‘s first jaw-dropping monster dunk as a Gopher. We’ll have to wait a little while longer.

We came close with 9:00 remaining in the first half, right in the middle of a dominating 17-0 run by the Gophers. Rico got the ball on the wing off a swing pass from Spencer Tollackson. He faked the three, drove baseline, and elevated. Problem was, he had to double pump while going under one defender and then over another. Rico came close and did get two hands on the rim (which did drop plenty of jaws anyway), but he couldn’t finish. Then, with :09 left in the game, Rico picked off a crosscourt pass and had clear sailing to the hoop…until he was hit from behind with a flagrant foul.

Oh well, I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. I had been looking to that first monster dunk as the sign that we were finally seeing the real Rico. But his 15 points (on 4 for 5 shooting from 3-point range), 5 assists, and 2 steals today showed that he’s pretty much here already.

Spencer Tollackson is also starting to show signs of that, as he had a strong 7-point, 6-rebound, 2-assist day in his 23 minutes of playing time. Spencer had three impressive passes in the opening minutes and was solid throughout. We’re begging to see the real Spencer as well.

Of course, the guy who’s 100% here is Vincent Grier. Vincent was dominant again in his own unique, impressive style. He scored 16 points in the first half and finished with 19 while playing all 40 minutes (he did seem to get tired in the final 5+ minutes). Vincent was 7 for 11 from the field and 5 for 6 from the line, and he also grabbed 5 boards.

Brent Lawson contributed a career-high 11 points and also finished with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists in a very good outing. Jeff Hagen was solid with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, and 2 assists. And Aaron Robinson made up for a quiet scoring game (4 points, all on free throws) by grabbing a team-high 6 rebounds and getting 5 steals.

As for the game itself, it was an ok performance by Minnesota. They started the game slow but then took control with the big run. Their offense still struggled at times when Holy Cross applied some pressure, but they did shooting a very good 63% from the field. The main offensive problems were a season-high 25 turnovers and a few sloppy stretches. Then again, they were also the first team to break 60 (and 70) against the Crusaders this season.

Defensively, the Gophers allowed a few open looks from the perimeter early in the game, and they didn’t do enough to contain red-hot Kevin Hamilton (22 points, 6 for 8 on 3s). Other than that, the ‘D’ was pretty good until breaking down in the final minutes. They held Holy Cross to 36% shooting from the field, had 13 steals, and forced 20 turnovers.

The Gophers rebounded the ball well offensively (8 offensive boards is very impressive when you only miss 14 field goals), and they were ok on the defensive glass for most of the game (especially when Tollackson was in). But they broke down late there, too, and wound up allowing the Crusaders to grab 18 offensive boards (way too high).

There’s still plenty of work to do, but it’s good to see some of the new guys getting comfortable, and you can’t fault the effort.

Here’s the box score.

Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.