Gophers Grow in Moc Drubbing
Saturday, November 26, 2005

Minnesota coach Dan Monson told his players, “We have a great measuring stick today,” prior to their game against the Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs. Following an afternoon in which the Gophers outmuscled and outplayed the Mocs, winning 67-46, Monson said, “I feel like we grew. We didn’t grow up, but we grew.”

The Gophers got a pair of outstanding performances from their backcourt of Maurice Hargrow and Adam Boone. Hargrow had 24 points, including the Gophers first three field goals of the day as well as a basket that put them ahead to stay at 11-10. He also had seven assists and six rebounds. Boone had five assists to go with 20 points scored, and he was the game’s leading rebounder with 10.

Monson said he told the guards that they would need at least 15 rebounds out of them, a total the duo surpassed by one. Monson was concerned about the rebounding ability of the Mocs, who last year were second in the nation in rebounding margin. Against the Gophers, however, Chattanooga was outrebounded by 18, which caused Mocs coach John Shulman to say, “That’s an embarrassment for us.”

Of Hargrow, Shulman said, “He’s good on tape. He looks a lot better in person. I’d rather watch him on tape.”

The Gophers were playing their first game without Vincent Grier, who broke a finger in his shooting hand. “We’re a wounded animal,” said Monson. “And wounded animals fight.”

Shulman noted that his team was shorthanded, as well, because of injuries, lamenting, “We’re not very good right now.”