Oh the Agony of Defeat as Badgers Top Gophers

Oh the agony of hitting one of your first 21 shots. Oh the agony of making three field goals in the first half. Oh the agony of fighting your way back from a 19 point deficit to take a three-point lead, only to lose by two. Oh the agony of losing to your nationally ranked rival on national TV. Oh the agony of the Gophers in their 64-62 loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

For Gopher fans, the games first 17 minutes almost seemed surreal. Despite playing solid defense and containing (at least initially) Alando Tucker, the Gophers put on a shooting display that will hopefully never be repeated by the maroon and gold. Minnesota missed 20 of its first 21 shots and found themselves trailing 25-6 with just three minutes remaining in the first half.

But both coaches put in a reserve guard ““ Coach Dan Monson put in Rico Tucker and Coach Bo Ryan put in Tanner Bronson (much to the surprise and ultimately the chagrin of most Badger fans). Tucker’s arrival seemed to energize the Gophers and Bronson’s short-lived performance led to five quick Gopher points. Vincent Grier threw down a nasty put-back dunk and Tucker hit a big three-pointer as the Gophers went on an 11-0 run to finish the half trailing 25-17.

Minnesota continued to crawl back in the game early in the second half as they cut the Wisconsin lead to 27-23. But the Badgers came right back with a Kam Taylor four-point play followed up by a Taylor-to-Tucker alley-oop, which gave the Badgers another commanding 14-point lead, 37-23.

But back fought the Gophers again as Minnesota’s Tucker hit a big three-pointer and tied the game at 46-46 before Maurice Hargrow threw down a wide open dunk giving the Gophers a two-point lead in front of a wild Minnesota crowd.

The two rivals battled back and forth in the games final minutes with Minnesota opening its biggest lead at 59-56, but back came Wisconsin’s Tucker with a barrage of unconventional but incredible shots in the lane. Tucker’s bank shot with just over a minute left gave the Badgers a 60-59 lead, and they held on for the two point win.

The Gophers were led on both ends of the floor by Tucker, who had arguably his best game as Gopher. He finished with 17 points and four steals. Grier added 17 as well and Hargrow had 12.

But for the Gophers, the agony is the reality. And the reality is an 0-2 start in conference play which is underscored as both loses were home games. The magic number appears to be 10 conference games to make it to the NCAA Tournament. While that number is not a lock, it seems to be enough to warrant a selection. But with the 0-2 start, the Gophers must now win 10 of its next 14 games, eight of which are on the road.

Oh the agony of defeat.