Hey, so I got to cover the game today in person. I wish I could share a bunch of great news, but if you watched this game or read the headline above you know how this recap is going to go. I mean, it’s hard to spin Minnesota losing to Purdue 84-60. Honestly, I was shocked I wasn’t able to start writing it at halftime. Let’s break down the good and the bad.

• GOOD: I didn’t have to write the recap at halftime. Minnesota looked like they were in trouble early but managed to go on a 10-0 run at one point to keep it an eight point game at halftime.
• BAD: 3 point defense in the 2nd half. As of when I’m writing this (8 minutes left in the game), Purdue is shooting 77.8% from 3 point land in the half. SEVENTY SEVEN POINT EIGHT PERCENT. Sigh...
• GOOD: Nate Mason gutting it out. Mason led the Gophers with 18 points and never quit despite still clearly feeling the effects of the Brad Davison trip that wasn’t. While the Gophers didn’t get the win, Mason was rewarded by passing both Kevin McHale and Sam Jacobson to become Minnesota’s 5th all time leading scorer. HATS OFF to Nate for everything he’s done as a Gopher! I’m going to miss watching him play his ass off every game.

You know what? I’m going to mentioning any bad things now. Nate Mason is a great Gopher and he deserves better than me writing about more bad things after his accomplishments. We all know the bad, so only good things for the rest of this recap.

GOOD: The atmosphere at Mackey arena. I gotta encourage y’all to catch a game at Mackey Arena if you get the chance. I really liked it, despite the fact that it was rocking due to Minnesota getting trounced. Honestly it was fun to experience as a fan of college basketball. Great band, great students, loud old people. Here’s hoping the next time I’m here they’re all loud right up to the moment Minnesota beats them though.

GOOD: Jordan Murphy. Murph finished with ANOTHER double double (we’ll call it number eleventy billion cause yea) and hit two 3 pointers (going 50% from 3 for the game).

This long season will be over soon. Which is good I guess, except it means no more Mason in a Gophers uniform which makes me want to root for a huge run in the Big Ten tourney. Such is the life of a tired fan at the end of a bad year.

GO GOPHERS!