Gophers Fade in Crunch Time
January 23, 2010

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball Gophers suffered their second straight heartbreaking defeat Saturday. This one at Williams Arena when Michigan State came from behind to win 65-64. Earlier in the week, the Gophers rallied to take Indiana into overtime only to lose in Bloomington, Ind.

Coach Tubby Smith is down to 10 players on his active roster with crucial games to come if Minnesota is to retain any hope of an NCAA tournament berth. Standing in the huddle Saturday were three players, each products of Minnesota high schools, and each not suited up as the result of various alleged indiscretions. Members of the dishonored trio are Royce White, Trevor Mbakwe, and Al Nolen. The first two have not played all season, but Nolen had played in every one of Minnesota’s previous 18 games before being ruled academically ineligible.

“They will miss Nolen,“ Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after the game. “He gives your team 25 minutes of bulldog defense.“

Despite Nolen’s absence, the Gophers led for the majority of the game against the Spartans, finalists in last year’s NCAA tournament. They held a 58-50 lead with under seven minutes to go, then MSU went on a 15-4 rampage to go up by three points. Damian Johnson brought Minnesota to within 65-64, but that was the end of scoring for both teams.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune made a reference to “rattled Gophers“ on the front page of its Saturday edition. As it turned out, the Gophers were anything but rattled against the Spartans until the last 15 seconds of the game. Minnesota trailed by one but had enough time to set up the winning score. Then the team lost composure. Seemingly confused, the Gophers had to rely on Lawrence Westbrook to driving the lane and throwing up an awkward shot. A rebound shot by Blake Hoffarber drew air, and time ran out.

“It wasn’t executed properly,“ said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, a master of understatement. “Some things had happened. It ended up in Westbrook’s hands. You have to find a way to win those games.“

During most of the game, sophomore Devoe Joseph picked up the slack as the replacement for the ineligible Nolen. However, he was forced to play 36 minutes and simply ran out of steam toward the end. Joseph and Westbrook each finished with 16 points.

For the Spartans, it was All-American guard Kalin Lucas who made the difference. This season, the Gophers have faced stellar performers such as Penn State’s Talor Battle and Ohio State’s Evan Turner but neither have the competitive drive of Lucas, who finished with 23 points in 35 minutes on the floor. It was Lucas’ three-point basket that have Michigan State with its 65-62 lead at the 1:27 mark of the game.

“We wanted the ball in Lucas’ hands,“ Izzo said. “He was the best he has been this year.“ The coach acknowledged that his team “missed shots early, and we took some bad shots. Minnesota’s size bothered us.“

Izzo praised his players, especially Lucas and forward Raymar Morgan, who, despite being shackled with his fourth foul with only three minutes gone in the second half, soldiered on. Morgan finished with 17 points while avoiding another foul.

“Our guys believe in each other,“ said Izzo. “We started out awful. We were outplayed for 37 minutes, but we beat a good team in an incredible atmosphere.“ A sellout crowd of 14,625 turned out despite the early start (11:00 a.m.) for a nationally-televised game.

“We needed a game like this,“ said the Spartan coach.

As more Smith, his luck at recruiting home-grown players has not been good. His one shining rookie, out of Robbinsdale Cooper High School, Rodney Williams, was not trusted to enter the game for the second half. Perhaps Tubby would do better by concentrating on enticing outstate players such as Westbrook (from Chandler, Ariz.) and Joseph (Pickering, Ont.) into the fold and ignoring those Minnesota lads with more basketball style and less substance away from the game.