Minnesota Golden Gophers Come Up Short Once Again

It seems as though every time the Minnesota Golden Gophers look as though they will break through and became a top tier team in the Big Ten, they fail to take advantage of the opportunity. The Illinois Fighting Illini, on the other hand, have clearly taken advantage of their opportunities they have been afforded.

They Illini and the 18th ranked Gophers faced off tonight at the Barn in Minneapolis and the game was not short on drama. D.J. Richardson, the Illini's sharpshooter, buried a three pointer right before the buzzer sounded to end the first half and give the Illini a 31-30 lead. It seemed as though both Richardson and Tyler Griffey couldn't miss throughout the entire game. Griffey was in a slump going into the Indiana game earlier this week and after his buzzer beater to take that game from the Hoosier's grasp, it seems as though he has completed shifted from being in a slump to being red hot. The Illini would just outplay the Gophers in the second half and although the Gophers hung around, they never could get over the hump and put the game away. The Illini wound up winning 57-53.

Before I start blaming anyone for the Gopher's loss or their overall demise so far in the past few weeks, I want to point out a few bright spots in this game. First, the play of Elliott Eliason was very solid. He had to step in for an injured Rodney Williams and he played his best game of the year so far. He finished with 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. His hustle was also very apparent throughout the game. Another bright spot was the overall defense of the Gophers. Only giving up 57 points in a conference game to a high scoring opponent is very impressive. Our problem was our perimeter defense during stretches of time where the Illini couldn't miss. As much as this loss hurts, it is important to recognize what the Gophers did well and who played well.

The thing that stuck out to me the most was that we had no go to scorer when the time arose. It didn't look as though anyone wanted to have the ball during crunch time. That made me so angry to see. Eliason buried a huge jumper with around a minute to play, but other than that nobody wanted to take the shot that could have put us back in the game. Compare that to the Illini who had three players they could look to when they needed a large shot. Whether it be Richardson, Griffey, or Brandon Paul, they were always in very composed hands.

Hopefully the Gophers can work hard in practice this week, Rodney Williams can get healthy, and rebound stronger than we have been this entire season in the upcoming weeks. We are getting close to tournament time and the Gophers cannot afford to keep losing these winnable games. Someone needs to step up and take control of this team. Someone needs to do this soon.