Minnesota defeated Penn State 75-70 at Williams Arena. The Gophers improve to 18-11 on the season and 9-9 in conference play. Cam Christie led all scorers with 19 points.
As CBJ throws up in the header image, the magic number is 4. I think this because the Gophers failed to come away with a Q1 win against Illinois or Nebraska.
Dear reader, I am still unsure if it is possible for Minnesota to play 40 minutes of complete basketball. The first fifteen minutes of this game was a nightmare. Penn State could not miss from distance, starting the game 9-11 from the three point line. With one exception (Ace Baldwin’s ludicrous 26 footer) all of those shots were great shots to take, a devastating indictment of the defense. We did not post a recap for the Illinois game, but let’s just say that I strongly agreed with commentators who decried the defensive intensity in that game and it carried over into today’s. The Nittany Lions led by 23 points with five minutes to play in the first half.
At which point, Minnesota proceeded to outscore Penn State by 28 over the last 25 minutes of the game.
The Gophers made a run late in the first half to cut the lead to 12, spurred by Parker Fox (who justly received a standing ovation when he was subbed out at the end) having himself a heck of a senior night. In the second half, it was all Minnesota. The Gophers held the Nittany Lions to .82 points per possession in the second half which is Houston level defensive goodness. Minnesota turned Penn State over on 30% of the possessions in the second half. Offensively, the Gophers put up 1.4 points per possession, which is better than Alabama (the best offense in the country) good. They were 4-9 from distance and most importantly 11-13 from the foul line in the second half.
All of which means that Minnesota is .500 in conference play in March. March! For a team that very plausibly expected to be in the market for a new head coach back in October! The Gophers are still in conversation for the Tournament, and every game at home from this point on is a must win. That means that games in March are actually worth investing in. Go buy tickets if you have not yet.
Notes
Elijah Hawkins is now the all-time single season assist leader in Minnesota history, and he will extend that lead a ways over the rest of the season. Hawkins had 18 points on 5-10 shooting, along with 8 assists to just 2 turnovers. That’s a Tournament point guard stat line.
Parker Fox balled out on senior night with 11 points, six rebounds, 4 blocks (and several contests), and a steal.
Minnesota was 5-20 from distance for the game. That is extremely bad! They were much better in the second half because as a team they avoided (mostly) taking snap three pointers early in the shot clock that were not in rhythm.
Cam Christie is going to win another Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award.
Dawson Garcia, please get healthy. With the number of knocks that the power forward is playing with to still be performing at a high level is the definition of toughness.
The Gophers play their last home game against Indiana on Wednesday. Sell out the Barn.