Minnesota secured their fifth Big Ten win and their first by double-digits, taking down the Oregon Ducks 61-44 in Eugene. The thinning rotation for the Gophers was down to just six players last night, but four starters finished in double figures with Isaac Asuma leading the way with 15 points and Grayson Grove contributed 13 with eight rebounds.
For Oregon, this was their 11th loss in their previous 12 games and they fell to 2-13 in the Big Ten.
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THE STAT: The stat of the night was shooting, as both teams were atrocious from three. The halftime score of 22-17 should be enough to indicate just how ugly the first half was, but there are numbers to support the ugliness. Both teams combined to shoot 4/26 from three in the first half; Oregon accounted for 1/12. Minnesota found a way to make some shots in the second half to finish with 31% from three, but Oregon finished 2/20.
TURNING POINT: The Gophers led for most of the second half, going up by nine or 10 before Oregon would close the gap, only to go up by 11 or 12 and the Ducks would go on another run to make it close. Bittle had a dunk with 8:36 remaining to make it 39-36. And the Gophers closed them out from that point. Bobby Durkin answered with a three and then Tyson hit two free throws on their next possession to start a run that was 22-6 run till the final buzzer.
HOT: While it is hard to give anybody a “hot” designation in this game that set offensive basketball back to the Bo Ryan days at Wisconsin, but it is equally as hard to dismiss Grove’s second half. The redshirt freshman started his second game in a row and was unstoppable in the second half. At the break, Grove had just one point and was 0/4 from the floor. But in the second half, Grove scored 12 points going 5/5 from the floor and 2/2 from three. The bank was open and Grove could not miss.
NOT: We mentioned that neither team shot the ball very well, but Oregon’s Takai Simpkins finished the game 0/10 from the field, 0/5 from three with four turnovers. That is a night to forget for the senior guard who is averaging over 12 points per game and shooting over 35% from three for the season.
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GOOD MOVE: Once again, the zone worked very well for the Gophers. Clearly Oregon was not making shots from the outside and the Gophers were able to keep the Ducks from getting offensive rebounds.
BAD MOVE: A coaching call or an on-court adjustment by a player that made a difference in the game.
NOTABLE: The win gives the Gophers five conference wins. Ben Johnson, in his first two seasons combined managed six conference wins. This team has an opportunity to get six or seven before the Big Ten Tournament. A couple more wins and they should be on pace for that 12th or 13th seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
UP NEXT: Minnesota hosts Rutgers on Saturday. This will be an 11:00 am start and broadcast on BTN. Rutgers is currently 3-11 in conference with a game at Penn State tonight. Minnesota’s home record against teams at the bottom of the league is not pretty. This needs to be a win.
