Win Over Purdue Puts Gophers Atop Big 10

Yes, it was only Purdue; and yes, the first half was extremely sloppy; and yes, it could still be a long season. But for a night, The Barn was a rockin’, and for a night, the Gophers are tied for first place. That’s a good way to start the new year in my book.

This game had an “œif only” feel for the first 30 minutes or so. If only the Gophers hadn’t committed so many turnovers (they averaged one per minute for most of the first half), and if only they had been able to hit some outside shots, they would be in the lead. Instead, they trailed for the first 35 minutes of the game. Fortunately, Purdue wasn’t playing great basketball either, so their lead always remained in single digits. Some of that credit goes to pretty solid defense by Minnesota throughout the game, but part of it was also a result of Purdue simply not playing very well offensively.

Minnesota trailed 25-20 at the half and by as many as 9 points in the second half. But starting at about the 10-minute mark, the Gophers began to play some pretty good ball, and the crowd got into the game more than we’ve seen all season (hopefully a sign of things to come). The Gophers got a couple of putbacks on the offensive end and began to control the defensive glass as well (after not doing that in the first half). And Lawrence McKenzie and Jamal Abu-Shamala got hot from the field. Put it all together, and Minnesota closed the game out with a 19-9 run and earned a much needed 65-59 victory.

McKenzie led the way with 23 points on an extremely efficient 6 for 7 shooting from the field. He was 8 for 9 at the free throw line and also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Abu-Shamala finished with 14 points on an equally efficient 5 for 6 shooting night and also had 5 rebounds. It was great to see him shooting the ball with confidence again. Dan Coleman had a solid game with 13 points and 11 boards, and Spencer Tollackson battled hard defensively against Purdue’s Carl Landry in addition to contributing 8 points and 6 rebounds.

While all I cared about tonight was getting a win, I suppose I should also point out a couple of negatives from the game. First, 14 turnovers from the starting backcourt is not a good thing and will lead to a loss most of the time. The entire team needs to sharpen up with the ball, although the second half was at least much better than the first. Second, the Gophers had a difficult time inbounding and advancing the ball in the final minute and gave Purdue a chance to stage a comeback. That must be worked on. And finally, in an amazing start, the Gopher bench did not score a single point, grab a single rebound, nor even attempt a shot. The reserves didn’t necessarily do anything bad in their limited minutes, but hopefully a few of them will begin to emerge as the season progresses.

In summary, we’re 1-0, so we might as well smile for a few days.

Here’s the box score.

Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.