Gophers Overcome Adversity
January 22, 2014

With only 12 seconds elapsed in Minnesota’s Wednesday night game with Wisconsin, junior guard Andre Hollins scored on a mid-range jump shot. In the process of landing, Hollins clipped Badger defender Josh Gasser’s foot and turned his ankle. Hollins fell to the Williams Arena floor, clutching his ankle and screaming in agony.

University medical personnel rushed to Hollins, and he was aided from the game, placing no weight on his ankle. Gopher fans could not help entertaining thoughts of another game against Dayton when Trevor Mbakwe was similarly helped from the scene. Mbakwe had suffered a torn ACL, and his season was over. Subsequent reports indicate Hollins suffered only an ankle sprain, but his services were lost for the balance of the game against the high-flying Badgers.

Without their top performer, the Gophers rallied behind the efforts of substitutes Malik Smith, Mo Walker, and Joey King to upset Wisconsin, 81-68, before a raucous crowd of 14,625 at the Barn.

Walker came out of nowhere to score 14 of his 18 points in the first half to carry the team to a 34-28 lead. He was aided by the absence of Badger center Frank Kaminsky, who logged only three minutes of play in the period. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan elected to pull the 7-0 Kaminsky after he committed two quick fouls. This left the Badgers without an effective post presence.

In the second half, it was JUCO guard DeAndre Mathieu who came on strong for Minnesota with 13 of his 18 total points as the Gophers built leads of 57-47 and 66-54. Wisconsin closed to within seven with four and one- minutes remaining, but baskets by Smith and King allowed Minnesota to widen its lead.

“We gave Minnesota way to many easy shots,” Gasser said after the game. “When they hit them, it gave them confidence.”

The game marked the 194th meeting of the two teams. Minnesota now leads the series 102-92. The Gophers hold a 69-31 advantage in games played in Minneapolis.

Coach Ryan holds a 16-6 record against the Gophers with a 6-5 mark at Williams Arena. Prior to the last contest, Wisconsin had won five of the last six games between the two.

“It’s hard for us to keep trying to dig out from being 10-12 points behind,” Ryan lamented. He praised Smith for “stepping up” when Hollins went down. “Smith is the real deal,” the coach said.

“We play really good when we have good spacing on the floor,” said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. “We try to always have four men on the floor who can shoot well.”

For the game, Minnesota shot 59 percent from the floor to Wisconsin’s 44 percent.