Gophers send shockwaves through Big Ten with upset of Wisconsin

Yes, the Big Ten basketball season is still young, but on Thursday night in the Kohl Center, one left Wisconsin's usually impregnable home arena with the sense that something very significant had just transpired.
 
Outplayed for most of the evening in a building Bo Ryan's Badgers almost always protect, the Minnesota Golden Gophers rallied from a six-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to take Wisconsin into overtime and ultimately prevail, 78-74. Minnesota can't rest on its laurels, of course, but the victory--on the road, against a quality opponent--represented the program's biggest step yet toward an NCAA Tournament berth. The remarkable comeback also shakes up the Big Ten, roughly one-third of the way through the regular season.

This was a game in which Wisconsin--an annual resident of the league's top tier--figured to teach the young Gophers a thing or two about blue-collar basketball in an arena where the Badgers had lost only two league games under Ryan, the defensive guru who regularly maximizes the talent at his disposal. For most of the night in Madison, that narrative did in fact play out, as the home team learned from a Sunday loss to Purdue. Whereas Wisconsin badly lost the battle at the free throw line against the Boilermakers, the Badgers got to the charity stripe against Minnesota. With just 3:30 left in regulation, the Badgers had attempted 16 free throws to the Gophers' meager total of two. Not surprisingly, that disparity--a reflection of the Badgers' trademark toughness--accompanied a 10-point Wisconsin lead (52-42). Minnesota got a few steals with its full-court press to chip into the lead, but with just 60 seconds remaining, Wisconsin still held a 58-52 advantage. Tubby Smith's team had seemingly received an education about the rigors of the conference. 
 
Instead, the Badgers would learn a painful lesson about endgame basketball, that unique phase of competition in which the time clock becomes more important than scoring.
 
When Minnesota did get into overtime, Gopher guard Lawrence Westbrook dazzled, scoring 9 of his game-high 29 points in an acrobatic highlight-reel display that left the Badgers reeling. But Wisconsin would have avoided the extra stanza--and the stomach-punch setback that followed--had it used a little more intelligence in that final, frantic and fateful minute of regulation time.
 
After Minnesota cut UW's lead to four at 60-56 with 44 seconds remaining, the Badgers did not need to shoot the ball. A runoff of 35 seconds--which Minnesota's coaching staff probably would have cut short with a foul--would have left Minnesota with just nine seconds in a two-possession game. Although the shot clock was still on, the four-point margin essentially put the Badgers in an "endgame" situation, when holding the ball becomes more valuable than scoring a basket. Had the margin been three points instead of four, the calculus would have been quite different. As it was, though, Wisconsin didn't need to attempt a shot.
 
This is where Tubby's tactics paid off for his team... and Gopher reserve Paul Carter made a name for himself in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
 

The design in Minnesota's offensive onslaught came in the form of 15 chippies produced by superior effort and half court efficiency. The Gophers' 63-percent shooting performance (30-of-48) was built on the back of their ability to get 15 made field goals from layups, put backs, and dunks. At one point in the second half, Minnesota gained 5 straight field goals from layups. With the easiest shot in basketball greeting them consistently, it's not surprising that Tubby's troops made most of their field goal attempts.
 
In addition to good design and execution, the Gophers also maxed out because they truly did achieve perfection--not just above-average quality--in one aspect of today's competition: three-point shooting.
 
While Penn State hit 9-of-27 triples, the Gophers hit all nine of their threes. Amazingly enough, Minnesota didn't acquire its 9-for-9 stat line by riding the hot hand of one player. Six different players hit at least one trifecta to set The Barn on fire.
 
Of the many young men to take part in the shooting barrage was bench player Devron Bostick. In just 16 minutes of action, the guard hit two shots behind the arc to lead what one could call the Bostick Three Party. All told, Bostick went 7-for-8 from the field to lead all scorers in tandem with PSU's Talor Battle, who needed 38 minutes of court time to register his own 19-point total. Bostick's remarkable shooting efficiency provided the scoring punch that everyone in the Minnesota camp has been looking for. Step-up performances such as the ones provided by Bostick and fellow guard Paul Carter (5-of-6 shooting, 2-of-2 on threes, and 14 points in just 20 minutes) will give the Gophers the quality depth they'll need while their young frontcourt gains a greater feel for the offensive side of the game.
 
Minnesota hasn't yet sunk its teeth into the toughest stretch of the Big Ten schedule. Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan and Illinois will sorely test Tubby Smith's ability to get sustained point production from a lineup that's still young. However, with this win over Penn State, the Gophers gained early leverage over a Nittany Lion team that's fighting them for Big Ten positioning. If players like Devron Bostick can continue to shoot the ball with notable accuracy, Minnesota will be able to handle the tougher challenges that lie ahead.

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