Travis Walton

Michigan State and Purdue had some big time struggles in their second round games, with each coming down to the waning minutes before both teams snatched victory. From a seeding standpoint, Purdue was the only mild upset, with a 5 over a 4 seed in Washington. But in everyone else’s case for the Big Ten seeds, they lost and are not in the Sweet 16.  So was it really all that a surprise that only 2 of 7 got further?

Ten NCAA Observations about the Big Ten

1) Illinois could have been the biggest disappointment of the bunch. The Illini really never had a chance in their game against Western Kentucky and only a flourish at the end made it respectable. Bruce Weber better get the offense more consistent next year if the Illini want to improve.

2) Travis Walton showed fans across the country just how deep the Michigan State Spartans are with his offensive performance against USC. If things like this keep happening, the grins will be permanent in East Lansing.

3) Michigan definitely has reason to believe that they are certainly a team of the future. They beat a good Clemson team and gave Oklahoma all they could handle before folding.

4) Purdue hasn’t been winning pretty, but that doesn’t matter at this point of the game. Their depth is also something to take note of and they will need every bit of it against the white-hot UCONN Huskies.

5) Minnesota certainly impressed me in their game against Texas. I personally thought that the game was almost unwinnable as soon as I heard it announced, and the Gophers really played the Longhorns with every bit of heart they had. Tubby Smith ought to be very proud of his team and excited about their future.

6) Ohio State’s loss to Siena was kind of surprising–kind of. Siena was actually one of those teams that everyone thought could make a run–and even though the Buckeyes were playing decently close to home,  I still thought that Evan Turner would win this game for OSU. But don’t fret–I got a feeling he’ll be back and very tough next year.

7) Wisconsin’s first round victory over Florida State should have given a bit of respect to the naysayers of the Big Ten. A win over Xavier would have solidified the legitimacy of the conference. Now it’s up to the Boilers and Spartans to keep the conference faith alive.

Proponents of the Big East have said that this is best conference ever according to the talent in this year’s pool. Well, I gotta say that they are not too far from the truth. It’s clear these teams know how to win, and unlike the Big Ten teams who had their chances, can close when it counts.

9) JaJuan Johnson is quickly becoming a huge X factor in almost all Purdue games and his NBA stock is rising exponentially. While he has said he intends on returning next year, he also hasn’t ruled out going pro. I think it all depends on his performance against UCONN that may make the difference on that huge of a stage.

10) The Kansas-Michigan State match up is really an interesting one. Michigan State beat them pretty bad a couple of months ago, but Kansas has improved greatly–winning 16 of their last 19. Izzo definitely knows how to plan for this team, but can he beat them again? Bill Self certainly has the pedigree in the tournament now to really question that…

Minnesota has been the subject of some pretty large lashback from the national basketball “scene”, particularly in the fact that many have

Ralph Sampson III

been claiming that the Golden Gophers should not have made the NCAA tournament as an at-large team but rather that it should have been Penn State.

I agree.

Penn State had a better record, better Big Ten place, and had a stronger nonconference schedule. The Nittany Lions won 9 of their last 15, the Gophers 6 of their last 15. I know there can be all kinds of arguments back and forth, but it is what it is. Minnesota is in, and their prize is a 10 seed and face 7 seed Texas in the first round of the tournament. The Longhorns, who started off 11-2, played choppy basketball beyond that, going 11-9 the rest of the way. Texas owns wins over UCLA, Villanova, and Oklahoma, but also lost to Arkansas and Nebraska.  Texas resembles more of a Big Ten team than a Big 12 team with not a whole heckuvalot of offense. The defense is suspect at best.

Texas is very balanced offensevely, being led by star A.J. Abrams who can shoot from anywhere and can score a lot of points if needed. Damion James is one of the more underrated players in the country, averaging over 15 points and almost 10 boards a game. He will present match up nightmares for the Gophers.

But don’t underestimate Tubby Smith’s ability to prepare for a game. The Gophers certainly have the “sticktuitiveness” to grind this game out and put points on the board, if they can hang on to the ball, which has been a major issue with Minnesota this season. The game doesn’t give much of an edge with location, so it really comes down to just who plays the better game–and in this case, I’d love to be able to say that Minnesota pulls the mini-upset, but I think that James will have his way down deep and lead the Longhorns to a tough victory.

Predicted Result: Loss

Even if Minnesota is able to win a gutsy game, they will likely face Duke basically in their backyard in Greensboro, NC, and that will make a game that is already one-sdied even worse. Sorry, Gophers fans, I am certainly happy for the turnaround in the program, but it is not in the cards for really much at all this go-round.

Durrell Summers

It’s kind of hard to type when you have egg all over your face. But after going out point by point and putting why I thought Northwestern would overtake Minnesota, the Gophers go out and make me look like a fool. It’s all their fault, not mine. Understood?

So, here we are in the second round of the tournament, where now it seems that Minnesota has assured itself of an NCAA berth, but that doesn’t mean Tubby Smith’s team is going to take it easy. They are now in that “playing for seeding” category, and a win over the Big Ten Champs (Michigan State, for those of you living under a rock) would be absolutely huge. The bench came through in shining fashion against Northwestern and the same effort is a MUST to beat the Spartans. Michigan State of course has the advantage of playing them fresh and is also looking to up their seeding–as MSU is one of the most successful teams next to Illinois in the Big Ten tournament, statistics and history are against the Gophers.

Big Tenet Prediction: Michigan State 67 Minnesota 60

I really can see the backcourt of Michigan State having a big day, as the quickness of Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, and defensive prowess of Travis Walton will take advantage of Minnesota’s probably-tired legs. Lawrence Westbrook will have a big day overall, but not a ton from his teammates. The game will be pretty even throughout, but having the one extra day off will pay out for the Spartans in the last 6-10 minutes of the game, and solid free throw shooting down the stretch will seal it.

Lawrence Westbrook

16-1. 5-8. Two stark comparisons of numbers. But it is exactly the reversal of fortune that has occurred with Minnesota and their basketball team this season. Coming into the Big Ten tournament, while they are 21-9 overall, the Gophers are not sure things for the NCAA Tournament by any means. And now they are facing an upstart Northwestern team that in the past week won at Purdue and fought to the bitter end at Ohio State. The Wildcats may be 17-12 and have no shot at this point for the big dance, but a top showing in the tournament could be just what they need to get over the top.

My guess? The Wildcats win this game in the final minutes of the game. Why?

1) Northwestern is deeper than the Gophers and their role players are really starting to come through. Freshman John Shurna has started to get comfortable and has really turned it on in the rebounding department. Luka Mirkovic has also been solid and contributing.Meanwhile, the Gophers have been struggling to find their identity even at the end of the season. Al Nolen has been remanded to a bench player after being one of the big studs in the Big Ten at the point. On sheer depth alone, the Wildcats are looking good in this game.

2) Kevin Coble has more star power. Yes, Lawrence Westbrook is the Gophers’ leader, but Coble has that special quality that can post 35 on you in a heartbeat. As the game comes down to the wire, Coble will come through.

3) Vindication. The Wildcats were embarrassed at Minnesota 72-45 not but a couple of weeks ago, and don’t think that this isn’t sticking in their mind.

4) Hunger. It has seemed for a long time Minnesota has been playing not to lose–not to win, which is a factor Northwestern has–they absolutely MUST make it to the finals and maybe even win the tourney to have the shot at the bigs. At 21-9, the Golden Gophers can be more complacent…even though this may be a false sense of security in the long run.

Lawrence Westbrook

Well, if Minnesota pulls out the “W” in Champaign last night, this certainly would have been a much more pertinent and exciting post. But, alas, they did not, and with it comes a more downtrodden look at the Golden Gophers. More blah than anything. Why? Because that’s kind of what Minnesota is–blah. They aren’t flashy, they don’t have stars, but they are 20-8. Why is that? Because of their star roaming the sidelines–Tubby Smith. The team started off 16-1 but have only gone 4-7 since that time, which does not bode well for their NCAA chances. But–it is still very possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

Demetri McCamey

Minnesota clawed. They scraped. They couldn’t shoot worth a lick–outside of 17 layups and dunks, they were only 2 for 43…Illinois didn’t do a heckuvalot better overall, but they still were able to keep a lead, and every time it seemed like they got comfortable, the Golden Gophers would find a loose ball, grab an offensive board (Minnesota basically owned the rebound category all game), and then make it close.

But then, as the Gophers scratched their way back to within 1 at 42-41, the Illini stepped up as they went on a 10-0 run late in the game, spearheaded by a big trey by Demetri McCamey, and the Illini ended up winning the game in double digits. The win, number 23 on the year, is really beyond even Coach Bruce Weber’s expectations (of course he won’t ever tell you that) and it pretty much guaranteed at worst a fourth place finish in the Big Ten and still kept them in the Big Ten title race.

The win was even bigger because of the fact that up in Williams Arena the Gophers dominated the Fighting Illini by 23 and sets up a showdown in Champaign as the Illini face Big Ten leader Michigan State on Saturday.

I am sure that Tom Izzo has continually fed into the Michigan State Spartans’ mind that they had been upset not once–but twice–this season by foes that were apparently “unworthy” because of not being ranked, so facing a team like Minnesota that was indeed ranked at Beslin Arena was sure to be a little bit unnerving to the suddenly inconsistent Spartans.

No worries.

Michigan State kicked the living snot out of the Minnesota Golden Gophers 76-47 behind Durrell Summers’ 21 and what was even better–they did it without their team leader Raymar Morgan. People said that the Spartans would be deep this year, and this is pure evidence, as they beat a good team that had been playing good ball as of late. The Gophers couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, clanging 28% from the field. It was definitely a must-win game for the Spartans that they did with vigor.

The question is–which team will show up next?

Minnesota’s last few games haven’t been pretty, as they lost to Northwestern and Purdue, and then eeked out a road win against seemingly hapless Indiana. So going into the game against the red-hot Illinois Fighting Illini didn’t seem like a great thing in terms of timing, especially considering the fact that the Illini had scorched the Golden Gophers with a 20-game winning streak–that’s right, Minnesota hadn’t beaten Illinois in the 21st CENTURY!

Until now.

Riding a tenacious defense and the crowd at Williams Arena, the Gophers dumped the Illini 59-36 in what was just a plain ugly game all-around. But they will take it–as Coach Tubby Smith noted that hopefully the Gophers “Can build off of it”.

Illinois looked atrocious on the offensive end, being outrebounded and only 29% from the field, including 13% from three point range. The Minnesota defense rattled them early, and even coach Bruce Weber noted that the Illini looked like they just stopped moving in the second half. Meanwhile, Minnesota won the old fashioned way, with gritty determination and banging the boards with authority. This is the kind of basketball Smith loves, and if this is any indication of a turning of the tide in the Big Ten, other teams better watch out.

62.5 percent. Normally that is a failing score for grades in school. But when you shoot that well from the field in basketball, it is considered scorching–and that’s exactly what the Minnesota Golden Gophers did in defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 79-59 in Williams Arena. The Gophers hit six three pointers in the game’s first 10 minutes and never looked back–the Nittany Lions literally looked shell-shocked the rest of the game.

The 19th ranked Minnesota team improved to 15-1 on the year. Devron Bostick came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 19 , Paul Carter scored 14, and Lawrence Westbrook had 13 for the day. The Golden Gophers hit all nine of their three pointers and had 11 steals for the game. For Penn State, Talor Battle had 19 points and 9 assists while Jamelle Cornley had 10 points as the only other player in double figures.  The Nittany Lions only shot 36% from the field for the entire game.

Minnesota travels to Wisconsin for their next game which should be the Big Ten’s weekly marquee match up, while Penn State plays host to Michigan State in what will be another tough game for PSU.

The meeting between the ex-Wildcat coaches. That’s what the billing basically was–Rick Pitino and his 9th ranked Louisville Cardinals, and Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Golden Gophers. But make no bones about it–this is no longer about the fact that the two great future hall of fame coaches were coaches at Kentucky–it’s about the here and the now. And the NOW is that Minnesota’s basketball program, once mired in the scandal of grade manipulation and other improprieties under Clem Haskins and little success under Dan Monson, has now made its mark on the national scene, toasting the road-weary Cardinals in a 7-064 win in Glendale, AZ.

Minnesota is now 10-0 and is the only unbeaten team besides Ohio State in the Big Ten. Riding a deep bench and gaining 15 points from reserve Blake Hoffarber, the Gophers tenaciously defended the Cardinals and by the second half, it was evident that there wasn’t much pep in the Louisville players’ steps. Al Nolen lead Minnesota in scoring overall with 18, 13 from the charity stripe.

No one truly doubted Smith’s ability to make this team and program good, but like what his colleague did for the football team this year–Tim Brewster–Minnesota has surpassed expectations thus far and should be in the top 25 after this win. The Gophers will face Southeastern Louisiana and then High Point before getting another huge test in opening Big Ten play against Michigan State. With the momentum the Golden Gophers have, there’s no better time to be playing the bully Spartans.

Congrats to Minnesota on this huge win!