The conversation around the Minnesota Gopher men is all about Ben Johnson’s status as coach. Well, the time will come for that conversation. But, right now, I’d like to say that Ben and his Gophers have faced adversity and (being honest) their serious talent limitations with character and persistence and toughness and tenacity and any number of admirable qualities. Many of you thought that they would go winless in the Big 10. Instead, they’re now 4-2 in their last 6 games and have played their way into (for now) the Big 10 tournament.
This after a horrendous 0-6 start. But, the turnaround really started in the 4th conference game on January 6. The Gophers outplayed Ohio State (oh, sorry, the Ohio State or is it an Ohio State?) in every phase of the game except one, losing 89-88 in 2OT. (They made just 12-of-27 FT.) So, after 2 more predictable losses at Wisconsin and Maryland (they played well at Maryland, maybe that was the turnaround), they finally put it together to beat Michigan at home 84-81 in OT. I mean, here were the Gophers at 0-6 while Michigan was 5-0. But Dawson Garcia put up a 27-12-4-2-3 line and the Gophers prevailed.
Wins at Iowa and over #15 Oregon at home followed, then another predictable loss at Michigan State. Then another tough less, this one to Washington at home 71-68. Garcia was again a man among men with 28 points while Femi Odukale continued to surprise with a 10-4-5-3-2 line. The Gophers came back from a 40-30 halftime deficit to lead 52-51 and to tie at 64 with 2:44 to play. A pair of turnovers and a pair of missed FT in the final 1:30 didn’t help and the Gophers fell 71-68. Garcia scored 21 points in the 2nd half on 7-of-8 shooting and 8-of-12 FT plus 4 boards, but the 2 turnovers and the 2 missed FT were his, too. As Garcia goes, so go the Gophers.
Though, honestly, that is my 2nd point here. Other guys are contributing beyond what seemed possible. Femi Odukale, for one, scored 18 at Iowa and 10 against Washington. I mean, granted, the Gophers are the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Mike Mitchell and Lu’Cye Patterson are shooting 37%, Odukale and Brennan Rigsby and Isaac Asuma all 43%. They are outshooting their opponents 45 to 43% but, remember, half of those games are still against mid-majors and worse. Still, they’ve been outshot 33 to 34% from 3 and 64 to 76% on FT. Their 64 FT% is the worst in the Big 10.
And, yet, last night the Gophers showed that tenacity that I mentioned, again coming back from a halftime deficit, this time on the road at Penn State, and this time hanging on to win. And, this time the surprise was Brennan Rigsby. He played himself out of a starting role early in the year and was barely playing at all there for awhile. He hadn’t scored a FG since Wisconsin, going 0-for-6 over the course of 6 games. So, what does he do? He scores 14 on 5-of-5 shooting including a pair of dagger 3s, one that gave the Gophers their 1st 2-possession lead at 7:03, and another that made it a double-digit lead at 2:41. Patterson added 14 on 6-of-10 shooting including a key post-up 2 at 1:02.
And, how about freshman Isaac Asuma and his 35 minutes. He didn’t start–has yet to start a game–and he played 35 minutes. Well, honestly, Ben would like to have Patterson and Mike Mitchell out there to handle the ball, but Mitch got into quick foul trouble and ended up playing 29 minutes with a line of 9-0-3-2. Asuma played 35 with a line of 5-4-2-3. Patterson played 38 minutes at 14-7-3-2. And Rigsby, of course, came off the bench to play 22 minutes at 14-3-1, as Ben played much of the 2nd half with 4 guards against Penn State’s somewhat undersized lineup and its full-court pressure defense. A main consideration seems to be protecting the ball and the Gophers sort of did that. They lost the turnover battle 13-11, but outscored Penn State 10-8 in points off those turnovers.
But, hey, this is the Big 10, and it never seems to get easier. Next up is Illinois at home, then a pair of games out in sunny southern California. A pair of winnable home games follow against Penn State and Northwestern. But, then the Gophers finish at Nebraska, at home against the Dakota County Badgers, and at Rutgers. A spot in the Big 10 tournament could come down to that finale at Rutgers, who is now just ahead of the Gophers at 4-7. On paper, frankly, there are just those 2 more wins for a final record of 6-14. That should keep the Gophers ahead of Penn State and Washington, but they’ll have to outrun one more out of the other 4 teams currently, like the Gophers, sitting on 4 wins. Those are Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers and Northwestern. A win at Rutgers would almost surely be a clincher, assuming we get by Penn State and Northwestern.
Still, the bottom line is not just that the Gophers are somewhat talent-limited. It’s that they continue, most nights, to play up to and beyond their talent level. I can’t say they don’t beat themselves because they do. But they’ve gotten just about everything (4 wins) out of the talent that they have because, as I said, they’re playing with character, with toughness, with resilience and with pride. Ben Johnson may or may not be back as Gopher coach but in that respect this season is already an unexpected success.