Welcome back to that winning March Madness feeling Minnesota fans! With Gabe Kalschuer leading the way, the Gophers secured the first upset of this year’s tournament by beating the Louisville Cardinals 86-76. And they did it by shooting well from beyond the arc, which was...not what we’re used to. Something we are used to? Minnesota making us get nervous towards the end of the game. The Gophers were up by 12 with 4 minutes left in the game before Louisville cut it to as few as 7 with a little over a minute to play. In the end though, the Gophers weathered the late storm and walked away with their first NCAA Tournament win in 6 years!

Quick Thoughts

• GABE DA GAWD. The game was arguably put out of reach when Gabe Kalscheur hit back to back 3 pointers with 11:51 left in the second half. He finished with 24 points on 5-11 from beyond the arc, 8-14 from the floor, and 3-4 from the line.
• The starters continue to star. Once again, the starting 5 led the way with 3 other Gophers besides Gabe in double figures (Jordan Murphy had 18 pts, Amir Coffey had 18, Daniel Oturu came up big with 13, and Dupree McBrayer got in on the party late with some key late free throws to finish with 13).
• Minnesota owned the paint too. Minnesota was the better team in the paint for most of the game when they chose to go there. Additionally, they helped themselves by pulling down 11 offensive boards.
• WE CAN HAZ THREES? Minnesota hit 11 of 17 27 three pointers. This is not a typo. (Update: And of course in my hurry to get this up I actually made a typo right before I said there was no typo and no I do not care we won lalalalalalalalalalalala).
• Value the ball. Minnesota had a season low 5 turnovers.
• SKI-U-MAH! This is that March feeling I’ve missed!

GO GOPHERS!