After an poor-shooting and turnover-filled first half for both teams on Tuesday, Oregon went on a 9-0 run to take a 30-29 lead on the Gophers with 13 minutes left at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
Minnesota was even more shorthanded than usual this year — down to a rotation of six total players and only one big man — so it looked like a familiar script was going to play out yet again: the U scrapping in the second half, but just not having enough horsepower to get the job done for a Big Ten victory.
At that point, Gophers coach Niko Medved called a timeout, saying it was time to dig in and generate some energy plays within a specific offensive scheme. “We ran a little set, a middle ball screen,” Medved explained on the KFAN postgame show.
That resulted first in a Grayson Grove roll to the rim, feed from Isaac Asuma and a Grove dunk. They ran it again and Asuma drove and laid it in. They dialed it up a third straight time, and Bobby Durkin nailed a 3-pointer. That 7-0 spurt resulted in Ducks coach Dana Altman being the one forced to call a timeout and try to curb the momentum.
Minnesota, however, never trailed again in a 61-44 road win.
Minnesota (12-14, 5-10 Big Ten) had lost nine of 10 games, but cobbled together its second road win of the season. Oregon (9-17, 2-13) have lost 11 of 12 games, with a home win over Penn State on Saturday.
Minnesota was down a third starter, with power forward-turned-center Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (foot) sidelined for a second straight game on the West Coast road trip. He was first ruled out for the 69-57 loss to Washington over the weekend.
That meant Grove was the U’s only post player, and the Alexandria native stepped up against Ducks’ 7-footer Nate Bittle with a career high 13 points and a team-high-tying eight rebounds.
On the defensive end, Medved continued to mix in zone defenses, a scheme he has relied on more after point guard Chansey Willis Jr. and center Robert Vaihola were lost for the season back in November.
“Once we kind of swung back at them and retook the lead, I thought we kind of broke their spirit a little bit,” Medved said on the radio. “We made it hard for them to score. Our zone and what we were doing was really effective.”
Bittle had some success in the paint, but Oregon continued to shoot woefully, making only 1 of 8 threes (12%) in the second half.
Isaac Asuma led the U with 15 points, with three 3-pointers; Cade Tyson chipped in 12, including five free throws; and Bobby Durkin added 11 with three treys.
The Gophers and Ducks were both ice cold in the first half, with the U holding an unsightly 22-13 lead. Both shooting 30% from the field. Minnesota was 21% from 3-point range, while Oregon shot 8%.
“It looked like we set basketball back about 40 years there in the first eight, nine minutes or whatever,” Medved said. “But that is kind of how we had to play. We needed to muck it up. We needed to guard, kind of get the tempo where we wanted it.”
Medved wants to play with a faster tempo, but given his lack of personnel, his team is one of the slowest in the Big Ten. It just another way he’s trying to find ways to win in his first year at the helm.
Related Articles
Gophers squander winnable home game against Maryland
Men’s basketball: Gophers and patients form bond in new program
Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears got ‘carried away’ in loss to Gophers
Men’s basketball: Gophers pull off huge upset of No. 10 Michigan State
Men’s basketball: Gophers underlying positive amid long losing streak
Leave a Reply