What happened?
Five days ago nearly everyone in town was ready to chisel the words National Invitational Tournament on the walls of Williams Arena. Today the Gophers are one of 65 teams with invitations to the NCAA Tournament.
Before the Big Ten Tournament started last Thursday the Gophers had an 18-12 overall record. They were 9-9 after 18 regular season conference games. A team and a season with considerable promise had not made expectations. The Gophers were an unlikely candidate for college basketball’s best post-season tournament, but a prime prospect for the NIT which takes the leftovers from the NCAA tournament field.
Gopher fans were feeling sorry for themselves on Thursday when their team was a few hours away from an opening Big Ten Tournament game against Penn State. Coach Tubby Smith and his players weren’t in the dumps, though, and that’s one of the reasons why Minnesota won three of four games in the tournament, and pulled off the school’s most remarkable late season drive ever for an NCAA tournament invite.
The Gophers were wearing new warm-up apparel in Indianapolis last week that included the word “Respect.” Smith and his players were indignant about the news earlier in the week that no Gophers made the first, second or third All-Big Ten teams selected by conference coaches and media. They were angry, too, that senior forward Damian Johnson, who led the league in steals per game and was third in blocked shots, wasn’t named to the All-Big Ten defensive team.
The Gophers took those snubs, combined it with a desire to win enough games to make the NCAA tournament, and played with an intensity in the conference tournament that wasn’t seen enough during the regular season. For the first three games of the Big Ten Tournament the Gophers were focused on defense and offense, shutting down driving lanes, taking charges, helping teammates defend, moving without the ball on offense and setting up one another for baskets, plus hustling for rebounds.
Senior Lawrence Westbrook was exemplary in the opening game against Penn State. In probably the best defensive game of his career he helped hold Penn State’s leading scorer, Talor Battle, to 10 points, about eight below his average. Westbrook was unselfish, passing to teammates including three point specialist Blake Hoffarber.