The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight
January 22, 2009

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball squad ran up against a band of bullies at home Thursday night, and the result was a 70-62 loss to the ruffians from Purdue.

Purdue coach Matt Painter played for Gene Keady from 1990 to 1993 and has maintained the Boilermaker reputation for engaging in rough play especially in the painted areas of the basketball court. Painter’s players make opponents pay for driving into the lane, and they aren’t afraid to commit fouls in the process. Indeed, at the end of the contest, the box score revealed that Purdue had committed 27 fouls, and four players had four each. All of this roughhousing tends to intimidate their opponents.

Minnesota was forced to drive into the lane due to the team’s horrendous outside shooting. The Gophers were able to hit on only three of 19 three-point attempts. Once deadly from beyond the arc, Blake Hoffarber has become a shell of his former self, lacking confidence in his shot. Meanwhile, his teammates were laying bricks in a style that would make a master mason proud.

For the game, Minnesota shot 28 percent from the field. “There’s no way I thought that would happen,” marveled Painter after the contest. “We didn’t let them get in rhythm,” he said, “and we didn’t let them get set.”

Painter said the Boilers “did a good job” against Minnesota’s pressing defense. When his team did turn the ball over, he observed, “We didn’t let them score off their press. He indicated that, offensively, his players “took good shots and were patient.”

Painter said he was pleased that his team made three more 3-pointers than did the Gophers. “And, we took eight fewer three-point shots than they did.” The Boilermakers shot 55 percent from three-point land.

In the second half, the game disintegrated into a foul-shooting contest. Al Nolen went 10-of-10 from the free throw line and led Gophers with 17 points and six rebounds. Lawrence Westbrook had an off-night, although he did manage to tally a dozen points, eight coming from the free-throw line. Damian Johnson had nine points, five rebounds and three steals and three blocks in 28 minutes of action. Minnesota’s assist-to-turnover ratio was a wretched five to 14.

JaJuan Johnson, Purdue’s brawny 6-10 center, scored a game-high 19 points for the Boilermakers. E’Twuan Moore poured in 16 points for Purdue, which has now won four-straight Big Ten games.

Once the Boilermakers got an early first-half lead, the Gophers didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep pace with the boys from West Lafayette. However, nine minutes into the game, the Boilermakers found themselves the victims of seven turnovers. Unfortunately, the Gophers were just as careless with the ball. Minnesota committed 12 first-half turnovers. Purdue jumped out to a 20-12 lead following free throws by Lewis Jackson midway through the half. With less than five minutes remaining, a three-point field goal by Moore made it 27-15. The Gophers did manage to come within 36-29 at the half.

With the Boilermakers shooting significantly better than the Gophers from the field, Purdue added to its lead early in the second half. Purdue built a 16-point lead on a thundering dunk by Johnson with 8:20 left to go and coasted the rest of the way for the win. The Boilers improved their record to 4-2 in conference play.

Much post-game concern was voiced over Hoffarber’s recent shooting woes. The 6-4 guard from Minnetonka (although he played high school ball at Hopkins) is four-for-28 from three-point land in Big Ten play this season.

“Everybody,” Gopher coach Tubby Smith told reporters, “is pulling for Blake to make a shot.” On this night, Hoffarber was not alone when it came to ham-fisted shooting.

“We’ve got some pretty good shooters,” Smith said. “But we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight.”