From The Barn

5 bubble teams to keep track of

Posted on 16. Mar, 2013 by zipsofakron.

March Madness is the best time of the year. Whether its conference tournaments, Selection Sunday, office pools or even the tournament itself, there is plenty of excitement as we try to make sense of who’s in, who’s out and who’s going to win it all. A big part of the lead up to the tournament [...]

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Day two Big Ten Tournament preview

Posted on 14. Mar, 2013 by JF.

Day one of the Big Ten tournament is in the books with one surprise but a few good finishes. Now the top teams in the conference take the floor for what should be a thrilling afternoon and night.

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Day one Big Ten Tournament preview.

Posted on 13. Mar, 2013 by JF.

The best conference tournament of the season, and perhaps the most anticipated Big Ten tournament tips off bright and early on Thursday morning when the Gophers take on Illinois at 11 am. How competitive will the tournament be? Consider that the Gophers and the Illini, the eight and nine seeds respectively, are each playing for a chance to beat number one seed Indiana for the second time. Anything can happen, and probably will. Here is what you need to know.

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A few thoughts before the Iowa game.

Posted on 16. Feb, 2013 by JF.

If you are interested in a more formal preview of Sunday’s game between the Golden Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes, you should read our preview from two weeks ago. The information is still valid, and rehashing it all would be boring. So instead, here are a few thoughts. I’ve often discussed the life, death, and [...]

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Gophers unimpressive in win over Iowa

Posted on 03. Feb, 2013 by zipsofakron.

Days after decimating the Nebraska Cornhuskers and seemingly righting the ship on a season that had gotten away from them, the Gophers nearly laid an egg at home against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Playing mostly uninspired basketball, Minnesota was bailed out in the waning seconds of the game by an Austin Hollins three pointer that put [...]

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A rivalry renewed.

Posted on 02. Feb, 2013 by JF.

For the last several seasons, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have had only one basketball rival, and it was not the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa was very bad at basketball, struggling to stay out of the Big Ten cellar, and if we are going to be honest without ourselves, the Gophers were not usually that much better. Even those mediocre Gopher teams found a way to beat the Hawkeyes, who because of lack of talent and lack of coaching, couldn’t put up much of a fight. In the early days of the Monson era, the Gophers and Hawkeyes took turns between being bad and medicore, which led to some not very compelling basketball games, and the rivalry nearly died.

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Selfishness vs. Selflessness: The Gophers head to Iowa

Posted on 31. Jan, 2012 by JF.

Minnesota beat Illinois, in part, because of unselfish basketball. Players made the extra pass, looked to get their teammates involved, and did not settle for poor shots. A couple of weeks ago, the Gophers lost to Iowa because they made the extra pass, deferred to their teammates, and would only settle for the “perfect” shot. Unselfishness is good, to a point, and at that point, every offense needs a player who will take charge and score on his own.

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Gophers fall to 0-3 in latest conference loss

Posted on 05. Jan, 2012 by zipsofakron.

At first glance the numbers from the end of Minnesota’s latest comedy don’t seem that bad: They lost by merely two points They shot 44% from the field They won the rebounding battle But for those of us who had the misfortune of actually tuning into the latest shortcoming by the Gophers know the real [...]

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Pre-game chatter: Iowa Hawkeyes

Posted on 03. Jan, 2012 by zipsofakron.

The Iowa Hawkeyes come to town to face Minnesota in the team’s first home conference game. Rick Reese from Black Heart Gold Pants provided some input on who the Hawkeyes are this season and what we can expect come game time. Check out our answers to Rick’s questions over at BHGP. FTB: A less-than-stellar non-conference season [...]

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B1G Preview: Iowa Hawkeyes

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Whatever momentum was gained by taking down then-ranked No. 6 Purdue in last season’s regular season finale has surely waned in an abysmal start to the new season for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Despite only going 4-14  in the conference last season, our rival to the south was hoping to build on a core of returning [...]

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BACON FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

Posted on 29. Oct, 2011 by JF.

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Big Ten Tournament Preview: The Bottom Six

Posted on 09. Mar, 2011 by JF.

With Gopher basketball mired in meaningless land with the late season collapse, it will take a miracle, the likes of which has never happened for any team in Minnesota, to make the NCAA tournament. Knowing that the season has spun hopelessly out of control shouldn’t take away from the great basketball that takes place during [...]

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Gophers stop the bleeding; rout Iowa on the road

Posted on 14. Feb, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Maybe it was Tubby’s post-Illinois tirade that cleared the heads of some players.  Maybe the team had a moment of clarity in the aftermath of the first four-game losing streak in the Tubby Smith era.  Maybe they were just playing a crappy opponent. In any case, Minnesota came together and flashed a style of dominance not [...]

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Game 25 Preview: The Game After the sky fell

Posted on 12. Feb, 2011 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Iowa Hawkeyes 5:00 pm (CST) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA) TV: Big Ten Network I sincerely hope that you were inside a sturdy building on Thursday night, or at the very least had an umbrella if you ventured outside, because apparently the sky fell. If you read anything by a grossly [...]

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Gophers avoid letdown, upend Iowa 69-59

Posted on 17. Jan, 2011 by zipsofakron.

Fresh off a thrilling home-court upset over the Purdue Boilermakers, many considered the Iowa Hawkeyes to be merely a speed bump in a string of games against lower-tier Big Ten opponents, looking past the bottom-dwelling Hawkeyes towards more intense games.  Consider the Gophers part of that group. Fighting through disinterested, lackadaisical performances, Minnesota gave away [...]

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