Gophers basketball notes following last night’s 76-63 loss to Wisconsin which used the win to clinch the Big Ten championship:
Minnesota never recovered from a slow first half start, trailing the Badgers 17-6 with about eight minutes gone in the game. The Badgers mostly cruised with a double-digit lead during the game.
“We let them score too easily,” said Gophers senior guard Andre Hollins. “They set the tone (early). We got down big. When you get down big on a team like Wisconsin, it’s hard to come back.”
The Badgers are 15-2 in league play and coach Bo Ryan has now won four Big Ten titles at Wisconsin in 14 seasons. He teaches his players fundamentals like few coaches ever have and part of the success is minimizing mistakes. In last night’s game the Badgers committed only 11 fouls and nine turnovers.
“He teaches you a lot as a coach about not fouling and not turning it over,” Gophers second year coach Richard Pitino said after the game. “It’s almost like their program is built on that. Don’t turn it over. Don’t foul. …
“They make use of it every single possession and they make you pay when you make a mistake. They really do. We turned them over nine times. He may make them walk back to Madison because of that. I thought we lost to a great team.”
The Gophers, 6-11 in the Big Ten, have their last regular season conference game on Sunday at noon against Penn State at Williams Arena. Minnesota’s Big Ten record has been a disappointment for a team that closed last season by winning the NIT and returned most of the key players.
But Pitino was upbeat last night. “I don’t think the year is weighing on anybody. I think we lost to one of the best teams in the country. We hate losing but we’ll be ready to roll on Sunday.”
Sunday’s game will be the last scheduled game at Williams Arena for several seniors including center Elliott Eliason who for much of his career has either been a starter or among the first players off the bench for the Gophers. Eliason, though, hasn’t played a minute in the last two games and just two minutes in the game before that. The Chadron, Nebraska native’s parents came to town for last night’s game and will attend the Penn State game, too.
Among the sports celebrities at the game was golf authority Andy North, the avid Badger fan who sees Wisconsin play about 30 times per year. “Bo and I have been friends for 40 years,” North told Sports Headliners.
The two men play golf together. North, who twice won the U.S. Open, said the coach is “very competitive” in attitude on the course and has a 16 or 17 handicap. North has blocked out his schedule so that if the Badgers qualify for the Final Four in Indianapolis he can attend.
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, just back from a meeting with Adrian Peterson in Houston, was at Williams Arena with club colleagues.
Worth Noting
Peterson’s contract for 2015 reportedly calls for him to earn $12,750,000 but that puts him pretty far down the list of the NFL’s top paid players. The highest earners in the league are no longer running backs. There’s no question rushing is less important in the NFL than it once was. The last team to lead the league in rushing and win the Super bowl was the 1985 Bears, according to Tuesday’s Mike & Mike show on ESPN.
Ryan Galindo is the new head football coach at Washburn. Galindo, a Washburn alum, has been the offensive coordinator for the Millers. He succeeds Giovan Jenkins as head coach. Jenkins started this week as a volunteer coach at Minnesota.
Jeff Jones, the Gophers running back who didn’t qualify academically last season to play as a freshman after graduating from Washburn High School, continues to excel in the classroom at Minnesota and may soon have consecutive semesters with GPA’s over 3.0.
Jones, the Gophers’ only Rivals.com four-star player in the recruiting class of 2014, could perhaps play next fall as both a running back and slot receiver. With exceptional burst, he might be used in the slot and run the jet sweep similar to how Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon made his early reputation for the Badgers.
Playing in the slot as a potential receiver, Jones has the hands to effectively catch the ball. Jones, 6-0, 198, has added strength since joining the program last summer and will be among the team’s most intriguing prospects to watch during spring practice.
Ex-Gophers safety Cedric Thompson was one of the defenders making Minnesota’s secondary among the best in the Big Ten last year. Although Thompson has used up his eligibility, he remains optimistic about the secondary including because of redshirt sophomore (next season) Daletavious McGhee who he believes can become a “great” player. McGhee, 6-1, 208, saw limited time in nine games last season.
Former Gophers wide receiver Derrick Engel said he’s fully recovered from the ACL injury he sustained in late 2013. Engel worked out at the Gophers Pro Day this week and hopes to be selected in the NFL Draft. If not, the Canadian Football League could be an alternative.
Engel’s brother Sean, a 6-5 receiver who will be a senior at Chaska High School next season, has drawn interest from the Gophers. Sean made an unofficial visit to Boise State last month and the Broncos are expected to continue following him.
The Gophers, Iowa, North Dakota State and Wisconsin have offered football scholarships to North High athlete Tyler Johnson, according to Rivals.com. A quarterback for the Polars, Johnson projects as a defensive back in college. Johnson, likely the best senior football player in the City Conference next fall, is also a shooting guard on the North basketball team.
Former Gopher Ra’Shede Hageman learned a lot about being a professional player in his rookie year of 2014 with the Falcons. His defensive line physical skills have been compared to the Lions Ndamukong Suh who drew a suspension last year for stepping on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Would Hageman do something similar?
Hageman laughed and answered, “No. That’s a great question.”
The Gophers men’s hockey team was the No. 1 team in national polls last fall but later dropped out of the top 20. Minnesota, though, has won six of its last eight games and is ranked No. 15 in two national polls.
Lou Nanne, the former Gophers and North Stars player, has observed the team’s improvement and despite earlier disappointment with Minnesota playing below its talent level he remains optimistic about the postseason. “If they’re playing up to their ability, I expect they could win the national championship,” he told Sports Headliners.
Nanne sees the Gophers playing smarter, with more intensity and cohesiveness now. Although Adam Wilcox has experienced some inconsistency, the junior from South St. Paul remains one of college hockey’s best goalies. “I have no problem him being my goaltender in big games,” Nanne said. “If I gotta win a game in college, I’ll be happy to go with Wilcox day in and day out.”
Nanne will have knee replacement surgery next week. This week he is completing his 51st season of providing TV analysis for the state boys hockey tournament.
Jordan Leopold, the Robbinsdale Armstrong High School alum, became the 21st Minnesota native to play for the Wild when acquired in a trade this week with the Blue Jackets. Leopold played on the Gophers 2002 national title team and won the Hobey Baker Award the same year.
Every college recruiter and pro sports executive responsible for attracting free agent talent to this city should read Atlantic Magazine’s “The Miracle of Minneapolis” story. The February article by Derek Thompson says, “No other place mixes affordability, opportunity, and wealth so well.”
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