The Big Game Jan. 12--Indiana 88 Minnesota Gopher men 81

Wow. Indiana put on a shooting clinic in the 1st half, making 14-of-21 2s (67 percent) and 7-of-11 3s (64 percent) en route to a 52-29 half-time lead. The Gophers also hurt themselves with 12 turnovers, and Indiana scored 19 points off those turnovers while Minnesota only scored 4 points off of Indiana turnovers. Each team had 6 offensive boards but Indiana out-scored the Gophers on 2nd chance points 10-5 just because of their stratospheric shooting percentage.

But, wow, again, but this time it was Minnesota putting on a show in the 2nd half, out-scoring the Hoosiers 52-36 and slowly crawling back into the game. They didn't get within 10 until 77-68 on 2-of-3 FT by Austin Hollins at 2:48. A minute later if was 79-71 when the 1st of 2 really BIG plays involving offensive rebounds occurred.

#1--Joe Coleman stole the ball in the backcourt and drove for a layup but missed. Rodney Williams trailed the play, grabbed the offensive board but he also missed on his putback dunk attempt. Instead of being within 6, the Gophers quickly trailed by 10 as Indiana hit a pair of FT at 1:10.

Still Minnesota came on as Andre Hollins hit a 3, Austin hit a 3, Trevor Mbakwe hit a pair of throws, and Andre hit 2-of-3 throws to get within 84-81 with 19 ticks left on the clock.

#2--Minnesota put the Hoosiers' Jordan Hulls on the line. He obligingly missed both throws. A Gopher rebound would have given Minnesota 15 seconds to set up a game-tying 3. Instead, Hulls rebounded his own miss and was fouled again. This time he made both throw.

Minnesota misfired on a 3 and Indiana made 2 more throws at :04.

Statistically the difference was Indiana's 40 trips to the FT line versus Minnesota's 15, and the Hoosiers' 19-of-34 (56 percent) shooting on 2s compared to the Gophers 18-of-39 (46 percent). Both teams ended up similarly re. 3-pointers, Indiana hitting 42 percent (mostly in the 1st half) and Minnesota 41 (mostly in the 2nd). Indiana dominated the possession game (offensive rebounds minus turnovers) in the 1st half, the Gophers did the same in the 2nd.

Player of the Day: Anders Broman, Lakeview Christian 57 points. Coach of the Day: Mike Durbin, St. Ben's. The Bennies gave the St. Thomas women their 1st conference loss, 66-62.