Wildcats refuse to fold; top Gophers for first Big Ten win

Coach Bill Carmody did a lot of hard work in the past 72 hours. It paid off Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.
 
A Northwestern team gutted by a wrenching loss to Purdue on Thursday night had to regroup against a 16-1 Minnesota team fresh off its conquest of the Wisconsin Badgers. Emotionally, the Wildcats had to put Purdue in the rearview mirror. Tactically, Carmody's kids had to stymie the Gophers' waves of young and energetic guards, who have led Tubby Smith to the upper reaches of the Big Ten without any significant interior presence. The Northwestern coaching staff couldn't have slept very easily considering the challenges facing the program.
 
Tonight, in the bitter cold of the Midwest, Carmody might be able to get an extra hour of shut eye. The Wildcats, who had so many reasons to fold the tent, instead responded with a 74-65 upset that knocked down the Gophers as soon as they rose to second place in the league, on the heels of Michigan State.

The Northwestern upset wasn't as simple as 1-2-3. It was as simple as 1-3-1, the zone configuration that took awhile to take hold, but eventually rattled Minnesota's young backcourt. The game didn't start so favorably for the home team, as the Gophers looked focused coming out of the box. Naturally confident after outlasting Wisconsin in overtime, Tubby Smith's boys shot the ball superbly, going 14-for-18 from the field in the game's first 15 minutes. As the Wildcats stared at a 32-23 deficit, it seemed highly improbable that the purple people would get rid of their Big Ten goose egg.
 
Then came a 21-minute stretch in which the world turned upside down for both teams, and the 1-3-1 caused the Gophers to become unhinged.
 
Before racking up several meaningless baskets in garbage time, Minnesota experienced a living nightmare, a slow-motion train wreck that derailed Tubby's troops. From the five-minute mark of the first half to the four-minute mark of the second half, the Gophers hit just 4 of 24 shot attempts. That's right--the same team that hit 78 percent of its shots in the first 15 minutes could barely dent the scoreboard in a half's worth of hoops. By the time Minnesota's 21 minutes from hell were over, with four minutes left in regulation, Northwestern had accumulated a 59-45 stranglehold against an inexperienced club that could not handle prosperity.
 
 

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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