Well this will be a short recap. I imagine we are all deflated tonight. NCAA hopes on life support. Not totally out but it does not look good. Rutgers now would need to win 5 of its next 6 to be in play. Not good all around tonight. Not ready for the moment. Elite defense did not travel. I do not have the answers to what went wrong. Mentally we were not locked in and that is disappointing It seemed like we were chasing all night. RU shot well early but their game is not to match their opponent at shooting 50%. Playing at a pace in the 70s is simply not Rutgers game. There was brief moment where they looked like the Rutgers of the last 4 and managed for forge a 7 point slowing Minny down but that quickly disappeared. What was disappointing was how quickly the game got out of hand coming out of the lockerroom for the 2nd half. Minny took it to us and instead of the composed RU defense putting their head down and working, Rutgers panicked...and they would panic on offense. This game reminded me more of the Rutgers vs Princeton/Missisissppi State before J Will came. Very disjointed and disarray on offense. Minnesota not known for their defense exploited our mistakes and we compounded the issue by playing right into their hands and payed for it dearly burned in transition. Do not be fooled. Sure RU got close with a 11-0 run in 90 seconds but you cannot just decide to come to play with a few minutes left.The game was lost coming out after halftime. Minny was in this position with leads vs Iowa and Purdue and tonight they fought back despite the furious RU rally. You cant go down 17 points with 3:39 left and expect to survive.
Look Rutgers had a great 4 game run that got our hopes up. J Will was a huge boost. Now there is film on J Will. Minny played great D on. J Will isnt a miracle worker. Frustrating games will happen. He looks a bit banged up and that will bit makes a huge difference. Unfortunately not one of this teammates picked up the slack for him. Back to some selfish out of control takes, some pouty looks and Coach Pikiell gee whiz. Pike was thoroughly outcoached for the third straight time at Minnesota. Pike has trouble against these athletic teams with tons of shooters such as Iowa, Nebby (despite the rac win), and ND. His substituions were painful. Cliff was dominant in the paint in the first half but instead of going to him right away. We didnt. At key times when the game was close, he had Cliff out and extended play for Woofolk who may have played his worst game ever. Gavin again awful. Hyatt simply not rising to the occasion as a senior leader. Derek looking like a mess with his decision making for most of the game and then suddenly waking up but waay too late. Cliff was Cliff Great effort but he was getting beat on defense and then Pike had him on the bench in key moments. J Mike looked every bit a freshmen unlike earlier games. Mag a non factor. Noah mia. Austin Williams sighting where did that come from. He did bring good energy late so we could provide that roll going forward. It was collectively our worst game since Penn State and reminder that this team still has major challlenges. To go 9 minutes with just one fg isnt really surprising. Minnesota looked like the better team. Give them major credit. They really took it to Rutgers tonight. Big win for them tonight. Johnson got talent in and he has some younger players stepping up. They still are hanging on to slim NCAA hopes themselves
Can this team bounce back. Sure they can but the problem is the next game is Purdue, who is coming off a loss while Rutgers will clearly be down. Not expecting anything pretty at Mackey, so for me the focus is to bounce back at the RAC with those 2 home games vs Maryland and Michigan and then see where that puts them in the with those last 4 to go. I dont know if this team got caught looking ahead or thought they were better than they were or they were distracted by the NCAA tourney talk but have to put this one behind them and get back to work.
Look Rutgers had a great 4 game run that got our hopes up. J Will was a huge boost. Now there is film on J Will. Minny played great D on. J Will isnt a miracle worker. Frustrating games will happen. He looks a bit banged up and that will bit makes a huge difference. Unfortunately not one of this teammates picked up the slack for him. Back to some selfish out of control takes, some pouty looks and Coach Pikiell gee whiz. Pike was thoroughly outcoached for the third straight time at Minnesota. Pike has trouble against these athletic teams with tons of shooters such as Iowa, Nebby (despite the rac win), and ND. His substituions were painful. Cliff was dominant in the paint in the first half but instead of going to him right away. We didnt. At key times when the game was close, he had Cliff out and extended play for Woofolk who may have played his worst game ever. Gavin again awful. Hyatt simply not rising to the occasion as a senior leader. Derek looking like a mess with his decision making for most of the game and then suddenly waking up but waay too late. Cliff was Cliff Great effort but he was getting beat on defense and then Pike had him on the bench in key moments. J Mike looked every bit a freshmen unlike earlier games. Mag a non factor. Noah mia. Austin Williams sighting where did that come from. He did bring good energy late so we could provide that roll going forward. It was collectively our worst game since Penn State and reminder that this team still has major challlenges. To go 9 minutes with just one fg isnt really surprising. Minnesota looked like the better team. Give them major credit. They really took it to Rutgers tonight. Big win for them tonight. Johnson got talent in and he has some younger players stepping up. They still are hanging on to slim NCAA hopes themselves
Can this team bounce back. Sure they can but the problem is the next game is Purdue, who is coming off a loss while Rutgers will clearly be down. Not expecting anything pretty at Mackey, so for me the focus is to bounce back at the RAC with those 2 home games vs Maryland and Michigan and then see where that puts them in the with those last 4 to go. I dont know if this team got caught looking ahead or thought they were better than they were or they were distracted by the NCAA tourney talk but have to put this one behind them and get back to work.
