The Minnesota Gopher men defeated what is expected to be a very good Washington team 68-66 to close a successful 3-game stand in Vancouver Wednesday night. The Gophers again shot poorly and trailed much of the way. But, trailing 54-47 with 8:38 left to play, they made 5 of their next 8 shots to tie it up at 63-all. They also made 3-of-4 FT during that run after making just 19-of-29 previously. Jordan Murphy scored to put the Gophers ahead for the 1st time since 38-37, but Washington took a 66-65 lead at 1:09. Gabe Kalscheur hit a 3-pointer at :02 for the final score.
The Gophers finished at 37/27/67 percent shooting (FGs/3s/FTs) and made just 17-of-43 2s (39.5 percent). Washington shot 50/21/71 percent and made 20-of-32 2s (62.5 percent). But the Gophers made up for all of that 1) by getting to the line 9 more times than the Huskies, and 2) with a 17-8 edge on the offensive boards, including 5 during their final push from 8:38 to the final horn.
Still, other than Murphy (7-of-9), the Gophers shot just 29 percent (13-for-45). Dupree McBrayer and Isaiah Washington were 2-of-14. Add Amir Coffey and Kalscheur in and you get 10-of-34 (29 percent). This is of slightly greater concern than one might think because they also shot poorly--again, except for a final push--against Santa Clara last night. And the Gophers were powerless to stop
Washington's big guy, Noah Dickerson, a 6-8 senior, who torched Minnesota for 28 points (9-of-11 FG, 10-of-13 FG).
Still, 3-0 in Vancouver, 6-0 overall (including the exhibition). We'll take it.
Player of the Day--Jordan Murphy
Team of the Day--Gopher men
Coach of the Day--Richard Pitino
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