A Look at Thursday Night and a Look Ahead for the Gopher Men

The Minnesota Gopher men took one very small step—but very much in the right direction—with a 109-53 demolition job of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at Williams Arena Thursday night. The Gophers shot 67 percent against the defenseless Bulldogs, both overpowering and outrunning UMD with a 52-18 edge in the paint and a 44-6 advantage on the fast break. 

Gopher veterans Dupree McBrayer, Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey played about 15 minutes each. McBrayer hit a couple of no-look 3s, Murphy made 4-of-4 FG, but Coffey seemed a little bit out of sync in his return from last winter’s shoulder injury. But the real news was the play of the Gophers newcomers.

Daniel Oturu, for example, is a beast. He is bigger and stronger and more athletic than Murphy. That is not to say he is or will be better in his freshman (and Murphy’s senior) season. But, the upside is pretty much boundless. He catches it in traffic and on the move. His footwork is solid. He scored on one spin move to a reverse layup against a double team. He made 6-of-7 shots plus 5-of-7 FT to lead the Gophers with 17 points. He also led with 10 boards and 4 blocks and drew 6 fouls. He was +36 in 22 minutes.

Gabe Kalscheur joined Oturu in the starting lineup and played 24 minutes. He made 4-of-7 shots but missed some that he usually makes in his sleep. But, he led the team with a +42. He is quick, he is skilled, he is smart, he is a player. Like Oturu, he can be an all-Big Ten player.

Freshman Jarvis Omersa is strong and athletic but a little rough around the edges. Newcomers Brock Stull, a 6-4 redshirt senior who led Wisconsin-Milwaukee in scoring a year ago, and Matz Stockman, a 7-foot Norwegian and transfer from Louisville, are not particularly mobile or athletic, but Stull can shoot it and Stockman cleaned up the boards pretty well when he was on the floor.

Then there’s Isaiah Washington. He reminds me of Derrick Rose, whom I saw score 50 the previous night. He is the shake and bake guy, he looks to take it 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 or 1-on-3 more than the other guys. Against UMD, he was unstoppable—7-of-8, 3-of-4 3s, 2 assists. The 2 turnovers were the result of being ridiculously overly aggressive, like I say, 1-against-3. But, he’s quick and he’s aggressive, and those are good things.

There remains work to do, to be sure. The Gophers gave up 13 offensive boards to the Bulldogs and got outscored 14-7 on 2^ndchance points. Their defense overall was pretty handsy. They were called for 15 fouls, 7 of them on the freshmen Oturu and Omersa. Our guards defended the 3 pretty well and Duluth’s starting guards shot 2-for-10 from long range. When one of their big guys stepped outside to shoot the 3, however, our big guys didn’t close out with much enthusiasm and the Bulldogs big guys hit a few of those 3s.

Still, the Gophers are not what you’d call deep right now, and they desperately need either Eric Curry or Marcus Carr or, preferably, both to be able to play. You’re probably aware that the pre-season prognosticators have not been kind to the Gophers. I’ve seen anywhere from 7^thto 11^thin the Big Ten. Lots of Gopher fans were ticked off about that. This is the team that went 23-8 2 years ago, not the team that went 15-17 last year! Well, the Gophers are going to have to prove that on the court. It says here that the difference between 11^thand 7^this having Carr or Curry available. The difference between 7^thand an NCAA tournament bid? That would be having Carr and Curry. 

Player of the Day--Daniel Oturu, MN Gophers 17 pts, 10 reb, 4 blocks

Team of the Day--MN Gophers

Coach of the Day--Justin Wieck, UMD, for having the guts to come down and play the Gophers at Williams Arena