Gophers Rest After Nebraska Win
January 31, 2015
As the Big Ten men’s basketball season passed the mid-point, it is well to analyze the progress (or lack of it) of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, coached by second-year mentor Richard Pitino.
One of the prime reasons Pitino replaced the fired Tubby Smith was that players did not improve or “get better” under Tubby tutelage. To apply that standard to Pitino, one should look to the lineup started by him in last season’s NIT Tournament. Whether or not these guys got better since could be summed up by popular movie titles:
Joey King, movie Pal Joey, the tale of a loveable loser who can’t get out of his own way.
D’Andre Mathieu, The Incredible Shrinking Man, standing under six feet, he now plays shorter than five.
Elliot Eliason, The Invisible Man, unseen for most of the conference season.
Austin Hollins, The Graduate. He gone.
Andre Hollins, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. Streaky shooter still the best one available.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers brought their bumbling, awkward basketball show to Williams Arena Saturday afterward and did not disappoint. Tim Miles’ team plays as if fitted with army boots and needs to change its nickname to the more appropriate Nebraska Clodhoppers. However, this band of bunglers somehow managed to defeat the Gophers in Lincoln.
Minnesota’s dreadful road losses to Nebraska and Penn State prove beyond the shadow of doubt that the Gophers are not ready for Prime Time TV. Don’t they realize that people can actually watch these games? They are not played in secret (although parental guidance is advised).
At home Minnesota plays like a normal team. Maybe the elevated playing surface, in turn, elevates their abilities. It helped that Nebraska played like a gang of uncontrolled refugees from the 1960s Minneapolis high school City Conference.
Minnesota won, 60-42, although the Cornhuskers managed to stay within striking distance until a pair of Mo Walker free throws gave the Gophers a 10-point cushion with seven minutes to play in the game.
“We turned the ball over on half of our possessions in the first half,” lamented coach Miles. “That was the story of the game.”
The stat sheet at the end of the game showed 20 turnovers for the Huskers, 15 in the first half when Minnesota led by 23-16.
The genial Miles made no bones about while coaching North Dakota State, Colorado State, and Nebraska, he’s never won at Williams Arena. “We held Minnesota to only 23 points in the first half,” he said. “If we could have held them to 23 in the second half, we win the game.” It did not happen.
Midway into the second half, Nebraska did creep to within 39-35 on a Tai Webster three-point basket, but that was as close as it got. Next, Walker was fouled by Leslee Smith after a made layup, and canned the free throw for a 42-35 advantage, and the lead-footed Cornhuskers were done.
Walker led the scoring with 19 points while snaring eight rebounds. Hollins had 12 points, six assists, and five rebounds. Shavon Shields led Nebraska with 12 points. Nebraska’s crude roughhouse style of play took its toll on the Gophers, who don’t play again until February 7 (at home, against Purdue).
“Our guys are banged up, especially Andre [Hollins],” said Pitino. “We need the break because we don’t have a lot of depth.”