Minnesota Beats Penn State on Senior Night
Saturday, March 6, 2004

    

As the Minnesota Gophers wrapped up their worst regular-season in the five-year tenure of head coach Dan Monson, the team at least achieved a positive distinction: a victory on senior night as the Gophers beat Penn State, 78-62, sending the Nittany Lions to their 10th straight loss.

Monson started his five seniors, Michael Bauer, Ben Johnson, Tyree Bolden, Wade Hokenson, and Randy Chall (the latter three who have averaged fewer than 2 minutes of playing time per game) and found it ironic that the most nervous one of the group was Ben Johnson, who had started all but one game of the season.

“It took us 8-to-10 minutes to settle down,” said the coach. “There was a lot of emotion out there.”

Johnson turned the ball over twice in the opening minutes of the game. After two minutes had elapsed, Monson sent forwards Kris Humphries and Stan Gaines to the scorer’s table to check in. When Jan Jagla, Penn State’s 7-foot junior from Germany, stole the ball from Johnson and fed Marlon Smith for a lay-up to put the Lions in front, 7-2, Monson called a time out with 17:14 left in the half and inserted his substitutes.

Kris Humphries, the freshman sensation who, like the seniors, may also have played his final game at Williams Arena, entered the game with a chance to lead the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding, a dual feat never before accomplished by a first-year player.

Humphries scored 10 points in fewer than three minutes, hitting a pair of three-pointers from the top of the key—one a set shot from the left wing and the other a jump shot from the top of the key—a fadeaway jumper, and a twisting layup after a nice pass into the lane from Michael Bauer. After Humphries made one of two free throws a few minutes later to put Minnesota ahead, 17-15, Penn State went on a 13-point run to open up an 11-point lead.

“We play in spurts,” noted Penn State coach Ed DeChellis after the game, adding that the spurts can be both positive and negative.

Monson said the Gophers got back into the game when they began running their offense, and Minnesota battled back, mostly with Humphries back on the bench. Michael Bauer had seven straight points during the Gophers’ 13-point surge. “It was good to see Mike playing with confidence,” said Monson after the game, “bouncing around like the Mike we know.” Adam Boone then hit a three-point basket to put the Gophers in front, 29-28.

The basket provided Boone with his only points of the half and his only three-point basket, out of four attempts, in the game, but he was a dominant figure on the floor with 10 assists and no turnovers. Meanwhile, Ben Johnson, after overcoming his opening jitters, had only one turnover the rest of the game.

This contrasted greatly with Penn State’s backcourt of freshmen Ben Luber and Marlon Smith, who had 13 turnovers between then. Some of their troubles resulted from harassment as a result of the Gophers’ press and trapping defense. “They are two young kids,” said DeChellis of Luber and Smith, “and we can’t get them out because we’ve got no one to put in.” Until the final two minutes of the game, Penn State used only six players, with senior forward Ndu Egekeze subbing mainly for Robert Summers, who had early foul trouble.

The Gophers led at halftime, 34-33, and controlled the second half. The Lions briefly retook the lead on a lay up by Aaron Johnson, but Ben Johnson hit a pair of free throws to put Minnesota in front to stay. Johnson scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half.

DeChellis said his team doesn’t have a player who can “stop the bleeding” when things go wrong, adding that his players can “let one thing turn into another thing and another thing.”

Humphries, needing 24 points to win the conference scoring title, finished the game with 25 points to go with 7 rebounds. A brief chant of “One More Year” resonated through the arena as Humphries may leave for the professional ranks after only one year in college.

The victory for Minnesota and loss for Penn State left the teams tied for the worst conference records, 3-12, in the Big Ten. Despite the overall disappointment of the season, Monson said it was “nice to end with a good feeling.”

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