Tubby Smith kicked a towel with more accuracy Tuesday night at Williams Arena than his Gophers shot the ball in an embarrassing 84-60 loss to Illinois, a team with a 2-9 Big Ten Conference record coming into the game. Smith excelled in distance and accuracy on his kick in front of the Minnesota bench during a frustrating second half when his players made 20.5 percent of their shots (33.3 for the game), but the headline story is that the Gophers likely booted away their NCAA tournament hopes.
The Gophers, now 5-6 in the conference and 15-8 overall, lost to a team they seemed likely to defeat. Minnesota, still in search of a signature win against a top 25 opponent, has a signature loss and a not too promising future.
The Gophers play at No. 15 ranked Wisconsin tomorrow (Saturday, 1 p.m.) and the Badgers methodically took Minnesota apart, 63-47, earlier this month in Minneapolis. Then the Gophers have winnable home games with Michigan and Penn State, before playing at No. 19 ranked and Big Ten leading Purdue, the surprise team of the conference at 11-1. A home game follows with Ohio State (the Buckeyes won by 16 in Columbus in January) and then the regular season league schedule ends for Minnesota with road games at No. 13 ranked Indiana and Illinois (the Illini are more talented than the record indicates with three conference losses by six points or less).
Two or three more wins seems most doable for the Gophers who except for the Illinois game have established a season long pattern of beating the teams they’re expected to defeat. We’re talking post-season NIT for the Gophers unless a March miracle happens and Minnesota ends up 9-9 in the Big Ten and 19-11 overall, or even better. At 9-9 and 19-11, the Gophers could position themselves for an NCAA tournament invite with a win or two in the Big Ten tournament.
A couple of March snowstorms are more likely, though, than an NCAA invitation. The Gophers’ lack of talent, including athleticism, was exposed again on Tuesday night. Although shooting accuracy was an issue, Smith talked about his disappointing defense that contributed to Illinois making almost 60 percent of its field goals. The Gopher coach said: “Our defense sucked the whole game. …”
Smith was clearly frustrated with his team’s performance and said at his post-game news conference that poor defense has been an issue for awhile. He criticized the Gophers for lack of aggressiveness and toughness against Illinois. Now the Gophers go to Madison to play Wisconsin after being “awful” against the Badgers in Minneapolis, Smith said.