Minnesota Loses to wisconsin

Minnesota lost to wisconsin 73-63 at the Kohl Center. The Gophers were up 7 with 4:15 to go, but were unable to close out the game. Minnesota has now lost 10 of their last 11 and the season is almost (mercifully) over.

The final six minutes of the game were confusing. Minnesota reverted to a lot of isolation from their guards instead of working the ball into the block for Murphy. Certainly, some of that was a result of wisconsin changing their defense, but not all. The Gophers have several set plays that get Murphy on the block in space, and it continues to be confusing that every possession does not at least attempt to make that happen.

Jordan Murphy broke Minnesota’s single season record for double doubles. Murphy had 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7-11 shooting.

Michael Hurt casually looked like the best player on the court for most of the game. Hurt had 15 points on 4-5 shooting and 5-5 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds, and played excellent defense all game. In particular, Hurt’s rotations to double Happ and then recover to his man kept Happ contained. For every single person who has said that Hurt should be a D2 player, just review this game the next time you think about making that comment.

Notes

I have discovered the perfect test to see if someone is disingenuous. If you believe that Mason tripped over his own feet from this angle, then you are.

One minor problem today likely caused by his injury is that McBrayer and Washington did not play well together. Both players are slashers and gamblers, which means that at least one of them has to hold back a bit. Next year that should be figured out. Tonight, it meant confusion and occasionally poor spacing.

I feel for Bakary Konate, who played strong minutes against Happ for the second year in a row, only to commit a foul at the worst possible time. Konate gets an unnecessary amount of flack from the fanbase, and I had planned to write all about how his defense was key in getting the win. I still believe he played excellent defense, and hope that continues for the rest of this (mercifully) short season.