Zulgad: Gophers' season has been defined by missed opportunities
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MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Gophers men's basketball team had suffered yet another potentially devastating setback to its hopes of earning a berth in the NCAA tournament Thursday when Tubby Smith issued this declaration.
"We can't afford to look ahead," the Gophers coach said in the aftermath of a 68-61 overtime defeat to the Wisconsin Badgers at Williams Arena.
Smith's coach speak was in reference to the fact the Gophers can't begin to look at their final six regular-season games, four of which will be at home, and get too far ahead of themselves in a rush to find the nine Big Ten victories it likely will take to make the NCAA field.
Smith did not say anything about looking back, however, and for this Gophers team that is where the real pain is going to come. If the Gophers' 2010-11 season was defined by key injuries, then the story of the 2011-12 season is shaping up to be all about missed opportunities.
The common theme for both might be the failure to participate in March Madness.
Thursday provided another example of a game in which the Gophers had a chance to win but failed to capitalize at crucial moments. The loss dropped them to 17-8 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten.
Give the Gophers credit for this: They set the tone for what to expect out of them from the start of the conference season.
An 81-72 double-overtime loss at Ilinois on Dec. 27, came after Julian Welch missed the front end of a one-and-one that would have extended his team's two-point lead with 15 seconds left in the second half. Welch, who had been an 88 percent free-throw shooter, also missed a layup in the first overtime.
Consider that missed opportunity number one.
Second and third on the list are the Gophers' two losses to the Iowa Hawkeyes, a once terrible team that seems to be improving but has a ways to go.
The first came Jan. 4 at Williams Arena in a game in which the Gophers led 32-21 with 5 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the first half. Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery switched from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone and the Gophers' fell apart.
Iowa went on a 10-0 run to pull within one point at halftime, and the Gophers went from shooting 67 percent against the man defense to 32.4 percent against the zone. Final: Iowa 64, Gophers 62.
The pain continued on Feb. 1 in Iowa City. The Gophers took a 10-point lead midway through the second half and appeared set to avenge the defeat at Williams Arena.
But the Gophers again fell apart and the Hawkeyes rallied from five points down with 3:22 remaining to score the final nine points of the game.
Final: Iowa 63, Gophers 59.
There would be no big lead for the Gophers to blow on Thursday night against the Badgers, but that isn't going to make the loss any easier to take.
The Badgers are ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll and 22nd in the coaches' poll, but don't be fooled. Bo Ryan isn't coaching one of his better teams -- Wisconsin's inability to make a layup in the first half was nearly comical -- and this was a club the Gophers could have and should have beaten at home.
Instead, they fell behind by 13 points in the second half before holding the Badgers scoreless for the final 7 minutes, 43 seconds of regulation. The Gophers went on a 10-0 run and tied the score at 51 with just over a minute left in regulation when Austin Hollins hit two free throws.
Hollins missed a shot at the buzzer to end the second half, sending the game into overtime.
But the Badgers took over in the 5-minute session and made 15 of 17 free throws to pull away for the victory.
"It was a learning experience for us," said Gophers freshmen guard Andre Hollins, who came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points. "I don't think this was a down game for us. It shows what we can do."
Maybe so, but this point of the season is no time to be taking consolation in learning experiences. Not even if you're a freshman.
Thursday's loss likely was a bit more difficult for the Gophers fans to take, considering the star of the night for the Badgers was Bloomington native Jordan Taylor. Taylor, a former star at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in St. Louis Park, finished with 27 points and made five of nine three-pointers.
The senior did not miss a three-point attempt in the opening half (4 of 4) and won at Williams Arena for the first time in his career.
The victory left the Badgers at 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference.
The Gophers, meanwhile, will next face third-ranked Ohio State (21-3) on Tuesday night. That will be followed by games against Northwestern (road), Michigan State (home), Indiana (home), Wisconsin (road) and Nebraska (home).
The Spartans, Hoosiers and Badgers are all ranked.
"This was a big one, but from here on out all of them are big no matter who we play," said Gophers forward Rodney Williams, who finished with 16 points and was most successful on the night when driving to the basket. "We have to let this one go and get ready for a really good Ohio State team."
The issue now is that four big missteps have left the Gophers with little wiggle room against some very good competition. The Buckeyes are the class of that group and there is a good chance the Gophers will travel to Northwestern with a two-game losing streak.
"To lose this game at home does put you back on your heels," Smith said. "But you have to maintain your composure and maintain your poise and keep persevering because these types of games can take the wind out of your sail quickly. We need to get our guys pumped up, get them believing that they can win the next game. So that's what we'll do."
Unfortunately for Tubby there is no guarantee that in a season of missed opportunities that his strategy will work.
