INSTANT REACTION: No. 24 Gophers Humbled Against Michigan State

Photo Credit: Brian Curski

There had been very few speed bumps to this point in the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ season. A 15-2 record earned them a Top 25 ranking this week, and even the two losses on the ledger were close games against quality opponents. It was safe to say the Gophers had yet to encounter anything resembling embarrassment. Frustration, disappointment — yes. But nothing close to what they experienced Wednesday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.

Minnesota fell by a 65-47 score, offering little resistance in the second half after falling behind by 22 at halftime. They’ll likely have to say goodbye to their short-lived national ranking — their first time in the poll in four years — even if they’re able to beat Penn State on Saturday.

In truth, the national ranking matters little outside of optics. The more critical numbers — RPI, strength of schedule, Top 100 wins, etc. — all reflect favorably on the Gophers. They’ll probably be OK in the long run, but a season sweep at the hands of the perennially competitive Spartans reveals that maybe the Gophers are still chasers, rather than pace-setters, in the Big 10 race.

Here are a handful of quick-trigger observations to Wednesday’s browbeating.

The freshmen looked like freshmen.

Photo Credit: Brian Curski

The Gophers have been bolstered by a strong freshmen class featuring local product Amir Coffey and agile big man Eric Curry. But both looked overmatched against Michigan State.

For all Amir Coffey’s strengths, his shooting leaves a lot to be desired. His 3-point shot — now down to 27 percent — lacks arc and frequently misses the rim by a wide margin. He was 0 for 3 from long range against the Spartans.

Curry, albeit playing through a bruised heel, went 2 for 9 from the floor and, as several Gophers did, missed a number of maddeningly short jumpers. He also continues to try and stretch out his shooting range, per Pitino’s instructions, but his 3-point shot is down to under 18 percent. One might wonder why Curry wasn’t getting the kinks of his shot in non-conference play rather than in the heat of the Big 10 season, where he’s attempted 10 of his 17 3-point shots.

Seeing the freshmen struggle stings even more after watching Michigan State’s prolific class of youngsters go off. The trio of Nick Ward, Miles Bridges and Joshua Langford combined for 38 points in the game.

More foul trouble for Reggie Lynch.

The Gophers center scored on a hook shot in the opening minutes to tie the score at 2-2.

He didn’t score again.

Lynch finished with just two points on 1-of-4 shooting and fouled out for the fourth time in five Big 10 games.

I think back to what Richard Pitino said on Dec. 8 about Lynch’s defense. The narrative at the time was that Lynch’s shot-blocking was transforming the Gophers’ defense. “I don’t think he’s that great of a defender, to be honest with you,” said Pitino. “Sometimes I think shot blocking is not the most fundamentally sound defense because sometimes you’re late rotating.”

While Lynch’s length certainly changes the game — and Pitino admits this — it’s only effective when he’s able to defend freely without the burden of fouls (aka, early in games). That might explain Minnesota’s ultra-fast starts this year against Michigan State (the first time), Purdue and Ohio State.

Lynch is chiefly an upper-body defender, using his arms to compensate for getting beat laterally. Sometimes he picks up fouls on the weak side, which is another movement issue. In other words, if Lynch put himself in better position as the ball is being swung across the court, he might not be required to swing his arm for a shot block — the ball would simply be reversed.

With Curry banged up and starting to show his youth, and Bakary Konate best served in a 10-minute-per-game role, the Gophers need Lynch on the floor — not on the bench — in the game’s most pivotal moments.

Need more from Mason.

Photo Credit: Brian Curski

It’s not fair to pick too much on junior Nate Mason, who’s largely been terrific this season. He almost single-handedly carried the Gophers to victory at Purdue on Jan. 1, and he’s got enough equity to deserve a longer leash.

The point guard isn’t guaranteed to be a scoring phenom each night, but when the shots aren’t falling, Mason needs to ensure he’s still creating. Granted, his one assist should have been several ticks higher had teammates not missed bunnies in the paint, but the passing was stagnant all evening for Minnesota with a season-low six assists as a team.

In two of Minnesota’s three losses, the team’s assist total has been in single-digits. This starts with Mason, who can’t let his inability to score affect his ability to pass, or vice versa. The Gophers take their cues from their most experienced player, in this case Mason, who’s proven he can be a game-changing facilitator.

Mason had a team-high 14 points in the game only because he scored nine in the meaningless final three minutes. He’ll need to assert himself much earlier against Penn State on Saturday.

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