***MINNESOTA VS LOUISVILLE NCAA TOURNAMENT IN-GAME THREAD!!!***

Moonlight said:

True to my 'name', son-of-moonlight and I left as the moon was setting, and arrived home at moon rise.
20 years with season tickets, and my kids growing up going to games with us, this was just a magical day. Hanging out and catching up with my adult son, we made Gopher fans of all the Iowans around us (not sure if I can ever wear my 'who hates Iowa shirt again').

The arena is a great venue for basketball (much better than our football stadiums) with great sight lines, and the whole town seems to revel in the event. I don't know if we'll be able to swing a return on Saturday but anyone attending should be confident of having a good view of the game.
After a long winter, the fact that the first full day of spring offered perfect freeway driving to an NCAA tournament game where our team looked as good as it ever has - well, color me amazed and even verklempt.

And, I think my favorite game moment came when Dupree broke the press and sailed down court scot free to a picture perfect layup.

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Great post! Very happy for you and Son-of-Moonlight to experience this together. I can promise you as a son who had similar experiences with my Dad at games, he will never forget today. And as a parent, neither will you.

Go Moonlight's!!

BleedGopher said:

Great post! Very happy for you and Son-of-Moonlight to experience this together. I can promise you as a son who had similar experiences with my Dad at games, he will never forget today. And as a parent, neither will you.

Go Moonlight's!!

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Thanks!! The great thing is: we both know it!
C'mon Gopher fans - it'll never be easier to get there!

yes, I was staring at the moon this morning as well as I drove south and it was an especially great day, sitting outside the hospitality/ beer tent in the bright warm sun after the game. The part in between was even better.

A generally 10 out of 10 day as a Gopher fan.

I sat by a high school kid from Soithwestern MN. He was by himself. Was very excited to be there and I’m not sure I’ve heard a person yell the rouser louder. We got to talking as he was seat 1, my wife and I seats 2&3. He said he won’t ever be able to attend the U of M but loves basketball, especially Gopher basketball. When he saw they were in Des Moines he convinced his parents to let him attend, bought his own ticket and drove 4ish hours each way. He had a blast.

He is trying to go back Saturday, I hope he does and sees another win because he is a true fan and deserves it. We all deserve it.

What a performance by the Gophers today! That was one of my best ever in person experiences as a fan of any team/sport. I started the game cheering for every bucket like it broke a tie in the final two minutes and never stopped. It was great to see all 5 starters step up at different times to make huge plays in the game. There just aren't enough superlatives for Jordan, Dupree, Amir, Daniel, and Gabe today. Just a really focused intense effort from the entire team.

I thought the LOOOOOONG timeouts really helped our shorthanded Gophers. There was a couple times where it felt like a mini halftime in the arena. Great to give all the guys time to rest and recharge.

As a frequent critic of Pitino, he deserves a lot of praise for how well his team played today. They weren't just making shots, they were focused, took care of the ball, and got after it on defense.

This will sound super corny, but my one regret was not high fiving any random Gopher fans. I was surrounded by neutral fans and went to the concourse after the final buzzer sounded and the team left the floor, but couldn't find any celebration to join in on going on out there. I tried to keep my standing to a minimum during the game due to nobody standing up around me, but I just had to get up and cheer a bunch of those big buckets (Jordan's 3!, Daniel's O board and putback!, Gabe catching fire!, etc) and then try to politely sit down by the time Louisville would get the ball to half court.

One thing that was really cool to me was I noticed a bunch of younger Gopher fans in groups of 3 and 4 (probably college age) walking together in to and out of the arena. Given our aging fan base it was great to see a bunch of younger fans willing to make the trip. The more results like today, the more of them will come.

Special shout out to both Gabe and Jarvis who walked near my section during the early minutes of the Bradley vs MSU game. They both stopped and posed for pictures with young kids. Jarvis took a pic with the son of the guy sitting next to me (Iowa fan, but neither he nor his son was wearing Iowa gear).

Just watching the game again as I watched it live sneakily at work. This was not a poor Louisville team in my opinion. The Gophers played great and we had some good mojo working our way (fans, red hot shooting from Gabe, and crazy Murphy threes).
I was worried late because the Louisville point guard was automatic from the free throw line and seemed to be able to draw fouls at will.
Don’t have much new to add but cheers to the Gophers and fans.
Wins like this create buzz and maybe some of the young high schoolers take notice and want to join the fun.

Moonlight said:

Thanks!! The great thing is: we both know it!
C'mon Gopher fans - it'll never be easier to get there!

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Don't take this wrong, but your posts have made me so sad that I'm not able to make it down for either of the games. Hope you and many others can go tomorrow.

If the early evening time for the MSU game is correct, we'll be watching our daughter's college gymnastics team compete for the D3 national championship in person at the same time as we're watching our alma mater compete in the national basketbal championship tournament on our phones. This time of year!

Bad Gopher said:

Don't take this wrong, but your posts have made me so sad that I'm not able to make it down for either of the games. Hope you and many others can go tomorrow.

If the early evening time for the MSU game is correct, we'll be watching our daughter's college gymnastics team compete for the D3 national championship in person at the same time as we're watching our alma mater compete in the national basketbal championship tournament on our phones. This time of year!

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Congratulations on both your daughter's success and for having the most airtight alibi for missing the game. In this case it is certainly better to be a good dad and a Bad Gopher.

Moonlight said:

Congratulations on both your daughter's success and for having the most airtight alibi for missing the game. In this case it is certainly better to be a good dad and a Bad Gopher.

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Thank you from us and her!

Do you think you'll head down for round 2?

Bad Gopher said:

Thank you from us and her!

Do you think you'll head down for round 2?

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This will be Sir Moonlight's call. Today I have to do all things I was supposed to be doing yesterday and we'll regroup this afternoon.
(This will sound bad but - I can't imagine it could possibly be as fun as yesterday...and I'm tired of Tom Izzo)

I really dislike Izzo.

ltf said:

Listened to KFAN a bit this afternoon. Barreiro a couple times commented about the overseeded Louisville team. Said the gophers had the "lucky shoe" this year for getting to play such a team. Very annoying and I dont recall hearing anything about Louisville being overseeded going into the game.

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I’m assuming he didn’t provide an example of a team that was seeded lower that should have been in their spot?

Great posts in this thread post game. I went there alone after real life responsibilities prevented my natural travel companions from being able to go. I waffled about the ticket cost, time, etc. but came to the conclusion that the likelihood of me ever being able to get to an NCAA Tournament Gopher game was near zero. This one was on my day off and didn't require overnight travel. It will never be more convenient. I'm glad I went and ran into several people I know.

I was shocked by the number and enthusiasm of the Gophers crowd. No offense intended, but the cynicism that can sometimes populate this board had me wondering what the crowd would be. I sat next to two Gophers from Kansas City whose family here are long-time season ticket holders. It was an easy drive for them and they never get to see games live any more. I suspect there were a lot of irregular game attendees down there. It was awesome.

The game was great. I think Pitino outcoached Mack. I'm with EG that I think the seemingly interminable timeouts were very helpful with our thin bench.

The people of Iowa were great hosts, and has been posted, seemed genuinely pleased to be hosting the event. The casino just north of Mason City had and flashing maroon and gold "Good Luck Gophers" sign, and the concession stands even had corn dogs! Great hospitality. I am glad I went and disappointed I can't go back tomorrow. My adult responsibilities prevent that. But if you can make it, it's worth the trip.

GophersInIowa said:

I’m assuming he didn’t provide an example of a team that was seeded lower that should have been in their spot?

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Oh no. Like another poster noted, I dont think gophers' sports knowledge is a strong point for kfan. Certainly somewhat understandable given gopher history, but annoying the need to diminish the win from an uneducated starting point.

Watching these highlights reminds everyone how awesome Harlan is.