With bac unable to attend today's game, he asked for somebody to step into his shoes for the "bac recap." Without further ado, here's my attempt to "channel" bac.
Pike talked in the offseason, especially after the Spain trip, how this team would have more "answers" on offense. We've seen it all year, with seven guys leading the team in scoring in individual games, and Pike getting contributions all up and down the roster. This game was Exhibit A proving Pike's theory, with three guys leading the way with 11 points, plus Caleb with 10, and two guys (Caleb and Myles) getting 10+ rebounds (and Mulcahy had 9). And getting defensive contributions from everybody, especially Mathis, Young, and Myles. This was a game of ANSWERS.
It didn't start out so well, though, with Rutgers guards losing sight of Minny's perimeter players and allowing them to jump out to a 10-2 lead. But Pike called a smart timeout to settle down the team, and then Montez Mathis had the first answer of the game and went on a personal 9-0 run, including two GORGEOUS threes, to push us into the lead at 11-10. That Tez flourish probably saved the game, and it was so great to see after Tez has been struggling on offense of late. After that 10-2 start, we went on a 17-2 run (including Mathis' 9-0 run), and once we got a sizable lead, we just ratcheted up the defense and didn't relinquish it. We went into halftime with a 34-25 lead, and we hadn't even played that well on offense.
The defensive game plan by Pike was good. He had Myles really lean on Oturu, and had Mathis and Young taking turns playing inside Carr's shorts, and both were held without a FG for the entire first half. On the downside, we were letting Minny's 3-pt shooters get open looks in the first half, and that's the only thing that kept the Gophers close, with Willis nailing 3 threes and Kalscheur one or two. I said at halftime that we needed to clean up the 3-pt defense, and we certainly did that.
In the second half, we jump on them again, with a flurry that pushed the lead up to 15 at one point. But as was the case against our previous opponents, we seem to stumble when we get up by 14 or 15, and our offensive possessions were sloppy, leading Minny to cut the lead to 49-42 at one point. You could feel the crowd getting antsy, but here come more answers. Caleb and Paul fighting for rebounds and hitting clutch baskets in the lane. Then Harper hits a HUGE three to push the lead back up to 10. Then Young down the lane again with another dunk. And the biggest answer of the game, 1 second on the shot clock and Geo hits an absolute DAGGER three to push the lead (again) back up to 10. Game over at that point, that just took the wind out of the Gophers' sails.
The MVP of this game was Mathis. From his 11 point first 4 minutes, to the stifling defense on Carr, we don't win this game without Tez's contributions. Caleb and JY get honorable mention - Caleb for his tough rebounding and timely shots (those 2 threes in the first half were just HUGE); and JY for his defense on Carr and his ability to drive down the lane.
We DOMINATED them on the boards 45-35, including 20-13 offensive rebounds. And once again, we held our opponent to well under their scoring and FG% averages. This defense is just ELITE.
A couple of intangible items from the game. I loved the students chanting at the football recruits "Come to Rutgers! [clap clap, clap clap clap]" - I even saw some of the recruits doing the chop.
And at the end, they flashed a sign on the video screen "RANK US COWARDS". That got a loud ovation from the crowd. I think it will be a colossal travesty of epic proportions if we're not ranked in the AP Poll and Coaches poll tomorrow.
Well, bac, I hope I did you proud, sorry for your (and Rock's) loss, and look forward to having you back in the postgame wrap chair on Wednesday night.
Pike talked in the offseason, especially after the Spain trip, how this team would have more "answers" on offense. We've seen it all year, with seven guys leading the team in scoring in individual games, and Pike getting contributions all up and down the roster. This game was Exhibit A proving Pike's theory, with three guys leading the way with 11 points, plus Caleb with 10, and two guys (Caleb and Myles) getting 10+ rebounds (and Mulcahy had 9). And getting defensive contributions from everybody, especially Mathis, Young, and Myles. This was a game of ANSWERS.
It didn't start out so well, though, with Rutgers guards losing sight of Minny's perimeter players and allowing them to jump out to a 10-2 lead. But Pike called a smart timeout to settle down the team, and then Montez Mathis had the first answer of the game and went on a personal 9-0 run, including two GORGEOUS threes, to push us into the lead at 11-10. That Tez flourish probably saved the game, and it was so great to see after Tez has been struggling on offense of late. After that 10-2 start, we went on a 17-2 run (including Mathis' 9-0 run), and once we got a sizable lead, we just ratcheted up the defense and didn't relinquish it. We went into halftime with a 34-25 lead, and we hadn't even played that well on offense.
The defensive game plan by Pike was good. He had Myles really lean on Oturu, and had Mathis and Young taking turns playing inside Carr's shorts, and both were held without a FG for the entire first half. On the downside, we were letting Minny's 3-pt shooters get open looks in the first half, and that's the only thing that kept the Gophers close, with Willis nailing 3 threes and Kalscheur one or two. I said at halftime that we needed to clean up the 3-pt defense, and we certainly did that.
In the second half, we jump on them again, with a flurry that pushed the lead up to 15 at one point. But as was the case against our previous opponents, we seem to stumble when we get up by 14 or 15, and our offensive possessions were sloppy, leading Minny to cut the lead to 49-42 at one point. You could feel the crowd getting antsy, but here come more answers. Caleb and Paul fighting for rebounds and hitting clutch baskets in the lane. Then Harper hits a HUGE three to push the lead back up to 10. Then Young down the lane again with another dunk. And the biggest answer of the game, 1 second on the shot clock and Geo hits an absolute DAGGER three to push the lead (again) back up to 10. Game over at that point, that just took the wind out of the Gophers' sails.
The MVP of this game was Mathis. From his 11 point first 4 minutes, to the stifling defense on Carr, we don't win this game without Tez's contributions. Caleb and JY get honorable mention - Caleb for his tough rebounding and timely shots (those 2 threes in the first half were just HUGE); and JY for his defense on Carr and his ability to drive down the lane.
We DOMINATED them on the boards 45-35, including 20-13 offensive rebounds. And once again, we held our opponent to well under their scoring and FG% averages. This defense is just ELITE.
A couple of intangible items from the game. I loved the students chanting at the football recruits "Come to Rutgers! [clap clap, clap clap clap]" - I even saw some of the recruits doing the chop.
And at the end, they flashed a sign on the video screen "RANK US COWARDS". That got a loud ovation from the crowd. I think it will be a colossal travesty of epic proportions if we're not ranked in the AP Poll and Coaches poll tomorrow.
Well, bac, I hope I did you proud, sorry for your (and Rock's) loss, and look forward to having you back in the postgame wrap chair on Wednesday night.
