Shades of Bill Musselman
January 29, 2009

Employing a suffocating defense, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers overpowered a taller Illinois squad, 59-36, on January 29 at Williams Arena before a sellout crowd of 14,625 screaming spectators.

“I thought the key was that we needed to be a physical team tonight,” Gopher coach Tubby Smith remarked to reporters after the game. “We made them take tough shots. We stuck with them on defense, and we didn’t allow transition points.”

The coach gave credit to Gopher fans, especially students. “The Barn is at its best when the band is playing, and the students are rocking. It just shows how great Gopher basketball can be.”

The 59-36 score brought one back to the early 1970s when Bill Musselman was coaching the Gophers. In a game against Washington State at the 1972 Far West Classic in Portland, Ore., Minnesota defeated the Cougars who were coached by George Raveling. Musselman’s teams would slow the pace, patiently waiting for the right shot. Raveling’s team chose to pass the ball around with no intention of facing the basket. Minnesota won, 41-32, but it was as if Raveling was content to keep the lead from going over double figures. During the Musselman era, his Gophers held an undersized Navy team to 35 points in the Pillsbury Classic.

Whereas Musselman’s Gophers held opponents down through ball control, Tubby Smith prefers use of lock-down defensive systems. It hasn’t always worked, however. Last season, Tubby’s team lost all three games with Illinois, despite the Illini’s woeful 16-19 won/loss record. Included in those losses to Illinois was an 84-60 drubbing at Williams Arena. This time around, Minnesota held the Illini to 48 fewer points. The Gopher win snapped a 20-game losing streak against Illinois. (It should be noted that Musselman’s teams never lost to the Illini.)

The last time the Gophers held Illinois to under 37 points was 1947 at Champaign-Urbana when Minnesota eked out a 34-31 victory. Eight years earlier, the Gophers downed Illinois, 35-33, at Williams Arena.

The point total of 36 Thursday was the lowest for Illinois since a 54-34 loss to Purdue on January 30, 1985.

“It was old fashioned basketball out there,” said Illinois coach Bruce Weber after Thursday’s game. “They intimidated us, particularly inside.” Minnesota didn’t rely on a full-court press. “They didn’t need to,” moaned Weber. “They just guarded us well at the half-court.”

Smith is now 37-17 as the head coach at Minnesota, and 424-162 for his career.

Illinois went into the game leading the Big Ten with a 47.9 shooting percentage. In the course of the game with the Gophers, the Fighting Illini shot 29.4 percent.

“We’ve always had somebody make shots,” a hoarse Weber croaked after the game.“Tonight we didn’t.” As a result, the longest winning streak Illinois ever has had over one opponent ended. It was Minnesota’s first victory over the Illini since a 75-63 win on February 3. 1999. (Clem Haskins was coaching the Gophers then.)

Minnesota outrebounded Illinois 44 to 29 on the night. The +15 rebounding margin was the Golden Gophers’ second highest of the season.

Illinois’ 16 first half points were the second-lowest total allowed by a Tubby Smith team at Minnesota (15 by Nicholls State).

Minnesota increased its lead to 30-20 on a layup basket by Colton Iverson at the 15:51 mark of the second half. The lead was increased to 47-31 after a successful shot by Devoe Joseph. This came at the 5:37 mark and was negated by a three-point by Illinois’ Trent Meacham. The Gophers then appeared to go into a shell on offense, exercising extreme caution in approaching the basket. However, the Illini were unsuccessful in their attempts to take advantage of Minnesota’s timidity. Consecutive baskets by Joseph and Al Nolen sealed the deal, and the fans nearly brought the Barn roof down with boisterous cheers.

For the game, no Illini player scored in double figures. Dominique Keller came off the bench to lead the team with nine points. The Illinois starting lineup scored only 18 points, led by Meacham’s seven.

The Gophers stuck with a man-to-man defense and seldom switched to a zone.

Even though Illinois trailed by six points at halftime, Weber claimed he was not overly concerned. “You have to have somebody make plays,” rasped Weber.“If one guy makes plays in the first half, it’s tied.”

The Gophers outscored the Illini 19-5 on points off offensive rebounds. “They took us out of everything,” lamented Weber. “They attacked us from the get-go.” When asked if last year’s 84-60 route of the Gophers played on the minds of his team’s players, Weber responded by saying,“Maybe we were too casual.”

As for snapping the 20-game streak, Weber observed: “It was bound to happen sometime. Let’s face it, we didn’t cut hard and move hard. No one played well for us.”

The Gophers still trail the all-time series to Illinois 58-104. Illinois’ point total of 36 is the lowest by a Golden Gopher opponent since Minnesota held Nicholls State to 32 total points on December 28, 2007.

It’s interesting to note that Lawrence Westbrook scored a game-high 16 points on the night. It was the 18th time this year he has reached double-figures, and the 36th time in his career. The 6-0 guard has reached double-figures in 18 of 20 games this year.

Illinois’ 23-point margin of defeat was also the largest of the Weber era. The previous high was a 20-point loss (76-56) at Wisconsin in 2004. “Right now, we feel as low as you can feel,” he murmured. “We were humbled.”