DanielHouse
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In Big Ten play, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You have to hit the floor with intensity every night. If it’s a top or bottom team in the conference, you have to approach it the same way. In Wednesday night’s 95-68 loss at Illinois, the Gophers were dominated by a winless Big Ten team with just four total victories. Minnesota was simply run off the court from start to finish. They couldn’t match the intensity Illinois had on both ends of the floor. The effort just wasn’t there all night. In the process, Illinois managed to claim its first conference win in 325 days.
Minnesota defenders were blown past for easy baskets, nobody was taking care of the basketball and Illinois controlled the glass. The Gophers turned the ball over 15 times and it led to easy opportunities in transition.
Amir Coffey has been the driving force behind the Gophers’ offense and he shot just 2-for-13 in blowout loss. Entering the game, Coffey led the Big Ten with a 23.4 points per game average in conference play. In Wednesday’s game, he finished the night with nine points and nobody on offense stepped up. Jordan Murphy has struggled over the past few games, especially around the rim. Murphy had just 11 points and shot 4-for-6 from the floor. The game quickly spiraled out of control and the Gophers trailed by 23 points at halftime.
Minnesota lacked an output from a true point guard and it showed in this game. Amir Coffey struggled and Dupree McBrayer had just seven points. Isaiah Washington helped the offense a little when he was in the game, but when Coffey is having an off night, the Gophers don’t have an impact guard to fill his shoes. This could be a major issue in future games and was a glaring weakness entering the season.
It’s just one of the many problems Minnesota faced.
The game went downhill from start to finish. Things started with a sloppy inbounds pass that led to a Trent Frazier transition three-pointer. Illinois went on a quick 6-0 run and the Fighting Illini drilled their first three three-point attempts. In the first half, Minnesota went more than three minutes without a field goal and couldn’t get quality opportunities early in the shot clock. They were also missing easy baskets around the rim and couldn’t hit open looks from behind the arc. Entering Wednesday’s game, Illinois was last in the Big Ten in rebounding. In this game, they dominated the glass with a 39-26 margin, including 12 offensive boards. They also added 20 second chance points and opened things up by shooting 61% from the floor in the first half. The Fighting Illini stretched the lead behind balanced offensive scoring and cohesive team defense.
Illinois shot 56 percent and played with incredible hustle, intensity and tempo on defense. They went on a 9-2 first half run and their lead stretched to 18 points. Minnesota was allowing deep touches in the post and the Fighting Illini rotated the ball for open three-point looks. Giorgi Bezhanishvili was also dominating in the post and had 20 points via strong moves. Illinois dominated every phase of the game and led 22-10 in fast break points. This is normally a category the Gophers control, but they committed too many turnovers. It helped Illinois play at a fast pace and Minnesota couldn’t settle in offensively. The Gophers turned the ball over 15 times and allowed 26 points off of them. Illinois had 22 fast break points and controlled every aspect of this game from the start.
It's a gut-check loss for the Gophers and how they respond to a game like this will define the remainder of the season.
Minnesota defenders were blown past for easy baskets, nobody was taking care of the basketball and Illinois controlled the glass. The Gophers turned the ball over 15 times and it led to easy opportunities in transition.
Amir Coffey has been the driving force behind the Gophers’ offense and he shot just 2-for-13 in blowout loss. Entering the game, Coffey led the Big Ten with a 23.4 points per game average in conference play. In Wednesday’s game, he finished the night with nine points and nobody on offense stepped up. Jordan Murphy has struggled over the past few games, especially around the rim. Murphy had just 11 points and shot 4-for-6 from the floor. The game quickly spiraled out of control and the Gophers trailed by 23 points at halftime.
Minnesota lacked an output from a true point guard and it showed in this game. Amir Coffey struggled and Dupree McBrayer had just seven points. Isaiah Washington helped the offense a little when he was in the game, but when Coffey is having an off night, the Gophers don’t have an impact guard to fill his shoes. This could be a major issue in future games and was a glaring weakness entering the season.
It’s just one of the many problems Minnesota faced.
The game went downhill from start to finish. Things started with a sloppy inbounds pass that led to a Trent Frazier transition three-pointer. Illinois went on a quick 6-0 run and the Fighting Illini drilled their first three three-point attempts. In the first half, Minnesota went more than three minutes without a field goal and couldn’t get quality opportunities early in the shot clock. They were also missing easy baskets around the rim and couldn’t hit open looks from behind the arc. Entering Wednesday’s game, Illinois was last in the Big Ten in rebounding. In this game, they dominated the glass with a 39-26 margin, including 12 offensive boards. They also added 20 second chance points and opened things up by shooting 61% from the floor in the first half. The Fighting Illini stretched the lead behind balanced offensive scoring and cohesive team defense.
Illinois shot 56 percent and played with incredible hustle, intensity and tempo on defense. They went on a 9-2 first half run and their lead stretched to 18 points. Minnesota was allowing deep touches in the post and the Fighting Illini rotated the ball for open three-point looks. Giorgi Bezhanishvili was also dominating in the post and had 20 points via strong moves. Illinois dominated every phase of the game and led 22-10 in fast break points. This is normally a category the Gophers control, but they committed too many turnovers. It helped Illinois play at a fast pace and Minnesota couldn’t settle in offensively. The Gophers turned the ball over 15 times and allowed 26 points off of them. Illinois had 22 fast break points and controlled every aspect of this game from the start.
It's a gut-check loss for the Gophers and how they respond to a game like this will define the remainder of the season.