Gophers Drop to 0-5 in Big Ten with Loss to Michigan
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Coming off a triple-overtime loss at Iowa the previous Wednesday, the Minnesota Gophers lost to Michigan 71-55, their fifth consecutive loss to start the Big Ten season.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Minnesota coach Dan Monson. “I felt like this team was getting better along the way, even though it was losing. I was hoping that Wednesday we had turned a little bit of a corner in believing that what we do can have success.
“I couldn’t have been more wrong in that today we got out of the moment more than I’ve seen this team do as far as getting frustrated, getting off the same page of what we have to do to be successful. We are very disjointed right now and very unconfident.”
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said, “The play of our guards [Daniel Horton and Dion Harris] was the difference tonight. Horton made 6 of 10 three-point baskets and had 32 points while Harris had 16 points, 13 in the second half. The pair combined for 14-for-25 shooting from the field, including 9 of 15 from beyond the arc. Amaker said the duo “gave us the energy and a swagger we needed.”
The Gophers had their only lead of the night as, on their first possession, J’son Stamper grabbed and offensive rebound and made a jumper. Michigan came back on a four-point play by Horton, who connected on a three-point basket while drawing a foul, then converted to give the Wolverines a 4-2 lead. Hunter had two more three-pointers in helping Michigan build a 21-19 lead.
Minnesota came back with a 10-point run to close the gap, but the Wolverines built their lead back to 28-22 at halftime as Horton closed the scoring with his fourth three-pointer of the half.
Horton stayed hot after intermission, and Michigan built a 17-point lead. Minnesota chipped away and got the deficit down to single digits, but Harris made a pair of three-pointers, shots that Amaker said “took the life out of Minnesota. That stretched it out for us, gave us the confidence to finish the game off.”
While the Michigan backcourt thrived, Gophers guard Vincent Grier struggled, making only 1 of 8 field-goal attempts and finishing the game with four points. The Wolverines employed a zone defense at different intervals during the game, including after a media timeout with 7:44 left in the game at a time when the Michigan lead had shrunk to 53-44.
Amaker thought the zone played a big role in shutting down Grier, saying “it had a way of slowing him down, cut off some of the driving angles and lanes. He’s so good at knifing and slashing. Our playing some zone allowed us to kind of pack it in a bit and didn’t allow him some angles and the penetration that we saw that he’s so good at.”
Monson concurred on the effet of the zone. “When everything is bunched in there, there’s no creases for Vince to go in.” The coach added that his team’s lack of outside shooting—the Gophers made only two field goals from outside the paint in the first half and were 0 for 6 from the perimeter during that time—was one of the reason the Wolverines’ zone was effective. “Their zone was good,” he said, adding, “When you’re not making jump shots, zones are effective.”
In addition to their troubles from the outside, Minnesota once again shot poorly on its free throws, making 58.8 percent (10 of 17) while Michigan was perfect in its 12 attempts from the line (with Horton making all 10 of his attempts).
“We looked like a team that was 0-4,” said Monson. “We didn’t look like a team that was feeling like they were going to go 1-4. We had a great crowd, and we never rewarded them with anything to get going. That is the advantage of being at home, and we didn’t use it.”