Winning Ugly
December 5, 2014
After stumbling through most of the game, the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team somehow came up with the needed spark to down a decidedly inferior Western Carolina team, 84-64, at Williams Arena.
The final score didn’t reflect the closeness of the contest. Crowd excitement was negligent until DeAndre Mathieu completed a three-point play with 10 and one-half minutes left in the game to give the Gophers a 10-point lead at 59-49. Until then, Minnesota had played the game with all the energy of a pack of zombies.
The Gophers must have been aware that the Catamounts had previously lost to East Tennessee State, Charleston Southern, and Georgia State, certainly not powerhouses in the world of intercollegiate men’s basketball. Consequently, the overconfident Gophers in the first half came out of the gate in a self-imposed fog, taking bad shots and getting beat on the boards. On defense, their indifference allowed Western Carolina to shoot 57 percent from the field in the first half.
Coach Richard Pitino was not pleased and wasn’t hesitant to tell his team just that. “I yelled at them,” he said. “I didn’t think our effort was great.” (Minnesota’s halftime lead was only 39-38.) “I didn’t think our energy was great.”
The message wasn’t received until midway in the second half, but when it did click in, the Catamounts, out of Cullowhee, N.C., were cooked. Western Carolina is expected to be a middle-of-the-pack finisher in the 10-team Southern Conference.
Minnesota’s ineptitude in the first half seemed to seep into Williams Arena from the downtown Target Center where the Timberwolves currently are displaying a brand of unwatchable basketball. The Gophers’ efforts to stay relevant in projections for success in a power college basketball conference (Big Ten) were not boosted by poor play against Southern Conference opposition.
Minnesota allowed previously unheralded Western Carolina guard Mike Brown to score at will. Brown had four three-point baskets and finished with 21 points. For Minnesota, the top scorers were Mathieu and Andre Hollins with 16 points each. The smaller Catamounts outrebounded the Gophers 34 to 26. Attendance was generously listed at 11,026, however less than half that number appeared to take a seat inside the arena.