U Men, Women Unveil this Season’s Basketball Teams
November 2015

The fate of the 2015-2016 University of Minnesota men’s basketball program likely will be determined November 19-22 when the Gophers travel to Puerto Rico to enter the annual Tip-Off Tournament.

Little in that regard was learned from the Gophers’ first two regular-season games at home versus the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) and the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM). The current batch of ballers feature many jump shooters and few rebounders.

“Early in the season,” mused coach Richard Pitino, “is never pretty.”

His team doesn’t appear to have a true point guard or center. It seems to function best with a small, speedy lineup and no player taller than 6-6 Jordan Murphy. Big Ten competition will swallow this lineup alive and vomit out the pieces.

UMKC arrived at Williams Arena as the representative of the once-proud Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Once home to the likes of Arizona State, Utah, and New Mexico, the WAC now languishes as a non-football conference scrounging for members and coming up with programs such as those representing Utah Valley, Grand Canyon, and Chicago State.

UMKC uniforms display “Kansas City” on the front, possibly to confuse spectators into thinking they are watching the NBA’s Kansas City Kings minus Tiny Archibald. Indeed, when the Kings (formerly the Rochester Royals, formerly the Cincinnati Royals) pulled up stakes and headed to Sacramento, city fathers proposed the UMKC Kangaroos as a replacement. The ancient downtown Municipal Auditorium was gussied up to serve as UMKC’s home court. The effort fell somewhere short of success as the Kangaroos seldom draw more than 1,000 spectators to home games. Kansas City sports fans continue to remain indifferent to basketball.

Led by 5-11 junior guard and WAC first team member Martez Harrison, the Kangaroos leapt to a 12-4 lead after a three-point basket by LaVelle Boyd. In fact, UMKC players rained three-pointers on the Gophers in the first half, making eight.

Minnesota did not take the lead until Carlos Morris scored to make it 24-22 with only three minutes left in the period. UMKC kept it close, however, and the period ended with the Gophers ahead, 32-30.

The tide turned rapidly in the second half. With 14:06 showing on the clock, Murphy hit a three-pointer to make it 46-39, and the Gophers never looked back. A layup basket by Kevin Dorsey with eight minutes to go made the score 63-44, and the Kangaroos were finished. The final score showed Minnesota winning by 76-58. The much-publicized Harrison was held to five points.

ULM on Sunday proved to be a more legitimate threat. The Warhawks brought with them a front line measuring 6-9, 6-7, and 6-6. ULM closed last season with 24 wins and qualified for the finals of the CBI Tournament, losing to Chicago Loyola. Pre-season polls picked the Warhawks to finish third in the Sun Belt Conference behind Georgia State and ULL.

In a reversal of the UMKC game, the Gophers started strong and faded later. A jump-shot basket by Dorsey gave Minnesota a 12-3 lead, and Minnesota dominated the first half as ULM hit only 26 percent of the team’s shots from the floor while the Gophers scored on 44 percent of their shots. Minnesota led at the half by 38 to 25.

Perhaps lulled into thinking ULM was another UMKC, the Gophers in the second half fell into stretches of sloppy play and found themselves trailing 51-50 after an 18-6 Warhawk run. The Gophers responded with a run of their own, going 11-1.

“When it came time to respond,” Pitino said, “we responded well.” The coach experimented with a dozen different lineups, the most effective of which featured power forward Joey King and four guards. Minnesota eventually came away with the win, 67-56. King led all scorers with 20 points.

Sunday’s attendance was generously announced to be 9,915, although far less actually showed up. The others were content to stay at home and watch the Vikings and Raiders on TV. The game on November 13 was better attended, possibly because it was a doubleheader with coach Marlene Stollings’ running Gophers women’s team.

Stollings’ pop-a-shot offense was proved much to the crowd’s liking while opponent Wofford, a bottom-feeder in the Southern Conference reacted with shock and awe, falling behind 45-15 at halftime. The final score had the Gophers on top by 98 to 54.

Coming off an NCAA Tournament season, the Gophers have added to their lineup 5-9 senior guard Rachel Banham, who currently leads Minnesota’s all-time record for three-point baskets with 329, including four against Wofford. She finished with 22 points, but high-point honors went to Mikala Bailey with 24, including five three-pointers.

Wofford could manage only four points in the second quarter and eight in the fourth. Minnesota veterans Banham, Bailey, Carlie Wagner, and Shayne Mullaney form the nucleus of the Gophers, but all are under six feet. As is the case with their male counterparts, someone must step forward and prove that she/he can adequately fill the role of gathering at least 10 rebounds per game.