In fact, the Gophers labored mightily to defeat D2 Augustana 72-60 last night in a game that was closer than the final score. The Augies led 38-33 at the half, and were within 63-60 with 3 minutes left to play.
3 Reasons Why Augies Stayed Close
1. Drae Murray's 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting (5-of-6 3s) in the 1st half.
2. The Augies rebounded with the Gophers, though the Gophers came out ahead 44-41 in the end (but Augustana had an astounding 19-12 edge on the offensive end).
3. The Augies shut Ralph Sampson down cold. When Sampson or Mbakwe got the ball down low, a double- or more often even a triple-team would follow. Ralph hit 1-of-5 shots and scored 3 points against this D. Of course, the Augies fouled out 4 inside guys--count 'em, 4--with this strategy and, so, late in the 2nd half the Gophers asserted themselves a little better on the boards.
3 Reasons Why the Gophers Ultimately Won the Game
1. Trevor Mbakwe
2. Trevor Mbakwe
3. Trevor Mbakwe
Mbakwe ultimately caught up to Murray for scoring honors with 22 points, and he did it on just 6 FGA. He made 5-of-6 shots and an astonishing 12-of-13 FT. Here, after all, is a guy who made 63 percent of his throws a year ago.
Secondly, while Augie's triple-teams kept Mbakwe from making a lot of FG, he still dominated inside with 13 boards and 6 blocked shots.
But, on second thought, let's make the Gophers defense the #3 reason why the Gophers won the game. There was the inside defense. The 4 guys who fouled out for Augie did so with 14 points among them on 6-of-16 shots in 63 minutes. And then there was the perimeter D. Granted, Murray lit 'em up in the 1st half, but he added just 3 points in the 2nd. And Augie's biggest threat, Cody Schilling, was held in check, making just 6-of-21 shots for 16 points.
And it was Rodney Williams who shadowed and frustrated Schilling, mostly just one-on-one, all night long. So while he had another Rodney game in the box score (3-of-4 FG, 4-0f-9 FT, 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block), he was extremely valuable on D, which is really how he earned his 28 minutes of play, 3rd after Mbakwe and Austin Hollins in the rotation.
Overall, Augie made 22-of-68 FG (32 percent) and 8-of-26 3s (31 percent). More to the point their shooting percentage fell to 20 percent (2s) and 11 percent (3s) in the 2nd half. Along with Mbakwe's 6 blocks, the Gophers blocked another 7 shots and disrupted Augie's flow to the point that they managed just 7 assists on 22 buckets. That flow disruption is mostly to the credit of Rodney and the Hollinses.
The Run
Trailing 38-33 at half-time, the Gophers came out and snapped off a 15-2 run in the first 3+ minutes. Austin Hollins hit a 3 just 10 seconds into the half (and later added another 3 plus a fast-break dunk off an Andre Hollins steal). Otherwise it was the Mbakwe show, as Trevor got 4 offensive boards in the run, converted 3 of them into buckets (2 of those of the +1 variety), and on the 4th assisted a dunk by Rodney Williams.
Meanwhile Augie went 1-for-9 (2 of the misses were blocked) with a turnover.
Still Augie came back within 48-46 and 63-60 when Minnesota ran the last 9 points of the game. Mbakwe got another block, then a 2+1 from Austin at 2:52 and another layup from Ralph at 1:58. Trevor, Rodney and Ralph made 4-of-6 throws for the final margin.
The Rotation
The rotation looks to be pretty set with one exception. 4 of the starting 5 (Mbakwe, Sampson, Rodney, Andre and Austin) have all played over 50 minutes in the 1st 2 games, the exception behind Andre with 44. But it was Julian Welch, who missed the Bemidji game, who was on the court at crunch time last night in place of Austin Hollins. So there's your big 6.
Joe Coleman has 30 minutes and Chip Armellin 24. Coleman has scored 12 points and Armellin 9. They'll be in the mix.
Elliott Eliason has 21 minutes so far but he's a project. His minutes are about to fall off the cliff. Oto Oseniaks, on the other hand, can score, though he lacks some quickness. Still, he'll be in the mix as the 9th man.
Maverick Ahanmisi is also in the mix. He logged a few minutes with the starting 5 (or 4), though it also looks as if Welch has pushed him back to the 3rd point guard slot. But he's the one guy after the 2 Hollinses who excels on the defensive end.
Ingram and Halvorson are not going to be in the mix.
So in summary the Depth Chart looks like this:
C- Sampson, Mbakwe
PF- Mbakwe, Rodney
SF- Rodney, Oto, Coleman, Armellin
G-Austin and Andre, Welch, Ahanmisi, Coleman, Armellin
If you're obsessing about which one is the point guard, Andre had 8 assists and no turnovers against Bemidji, but last night Austin had 3 assists and no turnovers while Andre was 1 and 2. Both of them can pass and score. And Welch had 7 points, 1 assist and 1 turnover last night. It's only when Ahanmisi is in there that you've got more of a classic 1 and 2 situation going.
The Outlook
Well, not good, unless the NSIC is approximately as good as the Big 10. 2 nail-biters against D2. Not that nail-biters are a bad thing to experience at this stage of the season. But here's 3 things the Gophers need to do going forward.
1. Get Sampson untracked. Mbakwe is not going to be able to do it alone in the Big 10 like he did last night.
2. Hit a 3. They were 2-for-10 in the 1st half (and 1-for-7 vs. Bemidji). They showed some hope in the 2nd half last night, hitting 3-of-7. 2 of 5 3s on the night were from Austin Hollins, who also made that 1 against Bemidji. He's 3-for-6 overall, and when Tubby says they're a better shooting group than last year, this is your man.
3. Keep up the defensive pressure because this team isn't going to just flat out out-score people, not with Ralph and Rodney MIA on the offensive end so much of the time. But the guard rotation will get better as time goes by, or maybe I should say that that's the 4th thing the Gophers are going to need to survive another year in the brutal Big 10 (or the Brutal 10).
So, finally, that's the reason for hope: Hollins and Hollins are going to be a fine pair, and Joe Coleman will one day make major contributions to this program as well. And Welch, well, the jury's still out after 1 game but I think he can play, too.
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