No Contest as Gophers Beat Islanders
December 28, 2013
Completing a nonconference schedule of mostly mismatches, the Minnesota Gophers had another blowout, beating the Islanders of Texas A&M, Corpus Christi 65-44. The game was competitive only through an early exchange of baskets. Minnesota then scored 10 straight points for a 14-4 lead and was never challenged.
After building a 32-21 lead at halftime, the Gophers started the second half with a 15-1 run, holding the Islanders without a field goal for the first eight minutes. During that time, Corpus Christi had seven times as many turnovers than points.
Although the offense wasn’t fully tuned up (and the Gophers free-throw shooting was poor), Minnesota coach Rick Pitino was happy with the defensive performance, holding the Islanders to 35 percent on shooting from the floor, including only 1 of 15 three-point attempts. Pitino had been in Florida, watched the Miami Heat, and was impressed with their ball screens. He wanted the same from his team and, “Our guys responded. In the Big Ten, you have to defend. Our guys acknowledged that.”
Most of all, Pitino has been happy with the practices so far in his first season. He thought the players, returning from break, would have trouble during a practice on Christmas. He was surprised and happy to find that they didn’t. “We hang our hat on a good practice he said,” adding that nearly all of them have produced the results he wants.
Pitino said his players have been working to “make that next step” and that they had a sense of urgency in the half-court game against Corpus Christi, defending well on the perimeter and trying to get a hand on the ball on a pick-and-roll.
Minnesota finished the nonconference season with an 11-2 record. Most of the competition was beneath them, and Pitino said it’s sometimes hard to avoid a letdown in such games. However, “Our guys didn’t lay an egg mentally.”
The Gophers open the Big Ten season at home against Michigan, and Pitino said they haven’t looked ahead at all, following a “one-day plan” of concentrating on each foe as it comes. “We’ll learn from this film [against Corpus Christi] and then watch Michigan film tomorrow.”