Back To .500

It was as if two different Minnesota men's basketball teams took on the Penn State Nittany Lions during a matinee at Williams Arena Sunday afternoon.

One group of Gophers made me want to toss my remote control in disgust. After a decent start through five minutes, the Gophers went ice cold from the field. After a couple shots rimmed out, the Gophers sped things up a little too much offensively. Perimeter shots were settled for without any semblance of ball movement. Transition threes were launched under duress. Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, the Nittany Lions moved the ball crisply. They created wide open three point shots and hit an astonishing percentage to build a double-digit lead.

Then something changed. The Gophers calmed down. A couple threes fell and, most importantly, the Gophers began taking the ball to the basket. By halftime, the Gophers had trimmed the Nittany Lions lead to two. And as soon as the second half began, the Gophers took over. Lawrence Westbook penetrated and drew fouls. Dan Coleman finished with a dunk instead of fading on layups. On offense and defense, the Gophers were the aggressor.

The Gophers eventually won 75-68 to climb back to .500 (7-7) in the Big Ten. But the game went down to the wire partly because the Gophers are playing very inconsistent. After the lackadasical first 15 minutes and the high intensity end of the first half and beginning of the second half, the Gophers let the Nittany Lions hang around. I'm not sure the Gophers have played a full 40 minutes of smart, crisp, tenacious basketball all season. It was the same story against Penn State

Westbrook's aggressivness helped him lead the Gophers with 15 points. He shot 6-6 from the free throw line. Also in double figures were Dan Coleman with 10 points (on 4-13 frm the floor), Lawrence McKenzie with 11 points (on 3-12 from the floor including 3-9 from three) and Blake Hoffarber, who finished with 10 points on 3-5 shooting (all outside the arc).

Other Observations:

** Jon Williams played his second straight very solid game spelling Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson. Williams slammed home a couple buckets with authority. It's cliche, but Williams has tended to play "soft." He was anything but Sunday.

** Jamal Abu-Shamala found himself in Tubby's doghouse midway through the first half and didn't return. A-S launched a three early in the shot clock (this was during the period when the Gophers were slightly out of control on offense). Tubby yanked A-S right after the shot and he didn't return.

** I'm really tired of watching during every Gophers telecast a highlight of Blake Hoffarber's off-his-butt shot during the Minnesota high school tournament. Unfortunately, I think we're in store for three more years of seeing this highlight.

** What's with Minnesota's free throw routines? The Gophers catch the ball from the referee, take a look at the rim and shoot. As a coach, I preached that the players needed a routine. But I've never seen an entire team employ the same routine and have it be as simple as catch, look shoot. For some this might work fine, but I don't think it gives the player time to clear his head after a miss. The Gophers shot 57 percent from the line Sunday. Coleman was 2-6. Damian Johnson was 0-3. Williams was 0-2.

UP Next: The Gophers have four regular season games remaining. And I believe the Gophers will be underdogs in each. Starting Wednesday, the Gophers travel to face the upstart Purdue Boilermakers. Then the Gophers return home next weekend to face Ohio State, before finishing the conference schedule with games on the road against Indiana and Illinois. If the Gophers want to find themselves in bubble talk later on in March, they must win three of these four games. I don't think it's likely.