Big Men Set Tone, Coffey Takes it Home As Gophers Crush Arkansas

Against St. John’s last Friday, the Minnesota Golden Gophers relied upon their guards in a comeback victory.

Tuesday against the SEC’s Arkansas Razorbacks, the big men came to play and helped the Gophers put their foe away in the first half.

Freshman Eric Curry, transfer Reggie Lynch and sophomore Jordan Murphy combined for 32 points, 11 of 18 shooting and 18 rebounds in an 85-71 victory, moving the Gophers to a 5-0 mark. It was a performance the Gophers would not have gotten a year ago and demonstrates how vastly different the 2016-17 unit is from the 2015-16 squad. “I’ll say it a billion times: Totally different team,” Pitino said after the game. “It’s like the Wolves before they had KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns]. It’s a different team. I’m not saying we have KAT, but it’s a different team. … With five new guys on a roster of 13, it’s going to be significantly different. It’s not last year’s team. It’s such a much more complete team.”

All three Gophers big men were solid Tuesday night, which couldn’t always have been said in previous games. Lynch and Murphy have occasionally coped with foul trouble or ineffectiveness around the rim, while Curry has made freshman errors and sometimes struggled to catch the ball around the basket, but all were locked in at The Barn Tuesday night. The Razorbacks had no answer early in the game as the threesome converted four first-half dunks that energized the 8,997 in attendance. Meanwhile, Arkansas couldn’t buy a basket on the other end as Lynch continually altered shots with active hands and timely help-side defense.

Minnesota’s guards were catalysts in getting the bigs involved, notching nine assists on 15 first-half field goals. Nate Mason, for the second straight game, took it upon himself to get the offense flowing. “Coach Pitino and the whole coaching staff just gives me the confidence,” said Mason after the game. “They trust me enough to do that.”

With post-up situations failing to generate offense through 10 minutes of play, Mason started driving the lane and dishing to forwards. Not only did Lynch and Murphy get point-blank looks, the wings opened up for Minnesota’s shooters. The Gophers were 6 for 9 shooting 3-balls in the first half with senior Akeem Springs knocking down three of them in quick succession.

Of course, it wouldn’t be fitting to ignore the second half Amir Coffey had after being held scoreless in the first. The freshman tallied 19 points after halftime, making both his 3-point attempts and getting fouled on another. He also delivered several jawdropping finishes at the rim that wowed Pitino. ” I think that second half he had some dynamic moves,” the coach said. “I think he had a little Michael Jordan. I think he changed hands in mid-air, left to right, and made a layup. It was pretty impressive.” Coffey wound up as the Gophers’ leading scorer, giving him 49 points in a two-game stretch. He entered the game as Minnesota’s leading scorer and only expanded his lead Tuesday night after receiving the Big 10 Freshman of the Week award on Monday.

“I think he had a little Michael Jordan.”

The Gophers, in their three most impressive victories, have used huge mid-game runs to create separation. Against UT-Arlington, it was 22-1. Friday against St. John’s, it was 37-9. Tuesday evening, it was a 25-4 spurt to go up by as many as 20 points in the first half and make for a drama-free second stanza.

Minnesota’s balance has played a big role in this club’s knack for game-altering surges. With a trio of bigs to pound inside, improved 3-point shooting from the guards and a desire to run the fast break whenever possible, the Gophers can now win inside, outside or in transition. They’ve had no fewer than four players in double figures in each of their five games this season and had six against Arkansas.

“Whatever we run has multiple options,” Pitino said, “whether you’ve got the ball screen, you’ve got the roll guy, got the throw back, so I just think these guys, they’re very unselfish. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of care for who scores; they just want to win.”

The Gophers have now passed their first two tests in a stretch of four big-name schools over the course of five games. They’ll likely get a brief respite as heavy favorites against Southern Illinois on Friday before hitting the road to face Florida State in the Big 10/ACC Challenge, then facing Vanderbilt on a neutral floor in Sioux Falls.

The confidence only continues to grow for this young Gophers group.

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