From The Barn

Joey King is a Gopher, so let’s take a deep breath and break down the roster

Posted on 02. Jun, 2013 by zipsofakron.

Wow, what an offseason. Usually at this point in the summer we barely even know the University of Minnesota even has a basketball team aside from the occasional arrest, DUI charge or transfer. BUT NOT WITH RICHARD IN TOWN. Even after a highly-publicized coaching search, the Gophers remain in the local spotlight with a handful [...]

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Now that Mathieu is a Gopher, a breakdown of next season’s back court.

Posted on 07. May, 2013 by JF.

Dre Mathieu, a 5’8″ -5’11″ (could someone measure this kid, please) junior college point-guard out of Knoxville, Tennessee will be joining the Golden Gophers for the 2013-2014 season. He will have two seasons of eligibility. Despite a successful high school career which landed him on the all-state team, his lack of height scared away all Division I scholarship offers. A successful junior college season, one in which he scored 16.1 points per game and added six assists, and 6 rebounds, was enough to get him several scholarship offers and now a spot on the Gophers roster.

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It’s a Bruin Blowout!

Posted on 23. Mar, 2013 by zipsofakron.

I was excited for Friday’s game against UCLA for plenty of reasons. Of course, it was the fact that the Gophers were in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. They were playing on college basketball’s biggest stage with a chance to redeem a season that fell well short of expectations once [...]

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Golden Gophers blow out the Bruins, and now get the Gators

Posted on 22. Mar, 2013 by JF.

A truly rewarding journey isn’t easy. There are wrong turns, detours, and delays. The college basketball season is 30 games long, and the Golden Gophers got lost along the way, and more than once looked like they wanted to give up and go home. Instead, they’ll be playing to go to the teams first Sweet 16 (that counts) since 1989. In basketball as in life, without negatives there can be no positives.

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The From The Barn mailbag is all about the NCAA tournament

Posted on 19. Mar, 2013 by JF.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions on twitter, even if some were (hopefully) less than serious. Crochots asks:  ”With the gophers suffering from routine cranial rectal inversion, what do you think is the best way to solve this problem? The Gophers obviously have some sort of mental block that prevents them from playing up [...]

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Gophers end home slate against Penn State on (super) Senior Day.

Posted on 01. Mar, 2013 by JF.

All good things must come to an end, and hopefully on Saturday, that includes the home careers of Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams, Julian Welch, and Andre Ingram. We don’t want to see them go. Rodney Williams soaring through air and Trevor Mbakwe’s chest pounding dunks will be sorely missed. But if we do see them play another game in venerable Williams Arena, it means something has gone horribly wrong over the final three games of the Big Ten season. Thanks to the thrilling, potentially season saving win over the best team in the country on Tuesday night, the Gophers need only one more win to make the NCAA tournament. The three remaining games are against three of the worst teams in the Big Ten, starting with Penn State.

Once the season winds down we’ll take a closer at the careers of the departing seniors. They deserve so much more than a short blurb on a random blog in the middle of a game preview. But until then, thank you, sincerely, for your two to seven and a half (or s0) years with the basketball program. You will be missed.

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Gophers save season in win over Wisconsin

Posted on 15. Feb, 2013 by zipsofakron.

In what was perhaps the biggest game of the season in terms of postseason implications, the Gophers fought tooth and nail against Wisconsin to notch an overtime victory that went down to the final seconds. After a solid start to the season, the Gophers ended a free fall that saw them fall out of the [...]

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An important rematch, without any hype.

Posted on 09. Feb, 2013 by JF.

No, nothing makes sense in college basketball this season.  After another crazy week in the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers start an important stretch of three potentially winnable games. There is a catch of course, and that is their first two opponents, Illinois and Wisconsin, beat the two best teams in the country this week.  The Iowa game is on the road, and the Hawkeyes are more than due to beat a decent team. To keep Selection Sunday boring, the Gophers need to find a way to win two of the next three. Otherwise, we’ll all have to start worrying about bubble again.

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Nebraska blowout has Gophers back on win wagon

Posted on 29. Jan, 2013 by zipsofakron.

That wasn’t so hard now, was it? After two excruciatingly painful games in which they seemingly forgot how to play basketball, the Gophers came out against Nebraska with guns blazing and something to prove. Wanting to show that they weren’t the 44 and 48-point team they were against Northwestern and Wisconsin the Gophers instead blew [...]

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Gophers hit the road to Northwestern to get back on track

Posted on 22. Jan, 2013 by JF.

It may be a bit early for such grand pronouncements, but the Golden Gophers Big Ten season has reached a crossroads. We know they can not beat teams ranked #5 on home, road, or neutral floors. We also don’t know where the Gophers sit in the Big Ten pecking order. Losing to highly ranked teams is fine if there is consistent effort and the game is close throughout. Unfortunately, the losses to Indiana and Michigan featured minutes long lapses along with insurmountable deficits that could not be overcome. Now after two straight losses, Minnesota hits the road for two games in historically unfriendly venues.

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Gophers lose big game, but the sky isn’t falling

Posted on 17. Jan, 2013 by zipsofakron.

Well this really sucks. After a week of waiting and hoping and dreaming and getting all tingly thinking about a possible and historic Gophers victory, the team goes out and lays a giant egg. Not like they got embarrassed or run out of their own gym, but it was a particularly close loss either. And [...]

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Once more unto the breach, dear Gophers, once more.

Posted on 16. Jan, 2013 by JF.

One score and 16 years ago, midway through the Big Ten season, the #10 Golden Gophers played the #5 Michigan Wolverines, and lost a heart breaker 86-80. It was the last time two top 10 teams played each other in The Barn. On Thursday we get to do it all over again. After two miracle comebacks fell just short, both Minnesota and Michigan hope to stay in second place in the Big Ten and keep their title hopes alive.  The loser won’t be out of the title picture, but may need to just their expectations a bit.

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The Gophers are good, but don’t say we didn’t tell you so

Posted on 09. Jan, 2013 by zipsofakron.

So, the Gophers just destroyed the Illinois Fighting Illini. The #12 ranked team in the nation. On the road. By 17 points. Which is on the heels of winning their first two conference games by 13 and then 18 points. Honestly, I don’t even know what to say. I’m numb. This is what winning at [...]

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Assembly Hall week starts in Illinois

Posted on 08. Jan, 2013 by JF.

Conference season is reality in college basketball, and during conference games on the road, things get very, very real. With road trip to the Assembly Halls of Illinois and Indiana, the Golden Gophers face what could be a season defining road trip. If they lose both, those finally suppressed doubts could seep back in. If they split the two games, the Gophers would likely maintain their ranking and have a chance to sneak into the Big Ten title race. If they win both, their ranking would vault as high as #3, with an outside chance of setting up a #1 vs. #2 battle at The Barn next weekend, depending on how Duke handles their first road test at North Carolina State this weekend. But no pressure or anything…

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Barn Blurbs is rounding up the tale of two halves

Posted on 07. Jan, 2013 by JF.

Austin Hollins scorches Northwestern for five 3-pointers in three minutes Hollins was so scalding hot for one three-minute second-half stretch there might as well have been singed nets and flames shooting out of the basketball. Let’s go to the tape Men’s Basketball: Northwestern runs out of steam against Minnesota The defining stretch Carmody describes came [...]

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