From The Barn

It’s A Wrap

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by zipsofakron.

We laughed in disbelief, cried at Ed Hightower’s injustices, scratched our heads, threw pillows and even cheered wildly at times, but the roller coaster that was the 2009-10 season mercifully came to an end in a 65-54 loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the Xavier Musketeers. The specifics of the game [...]

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The Worst: Michigan 83 – Gophers 55

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Pathetic.  Embarrassing.  Unbelievable.  What ever negative word someone wants to use to describe the Gophers effortless, aloof performance against the Michigan Wolverines would probably be deserved.  At a time when Minnesota needed to come out firing against a team with nothing to play for, a time that called for nothing more than a solid performance [...]

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It’s a Blowout!: Gophers 81 – Indiana 58

Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Two days after ripping Wisconsin with the season on the line at Williams Arena, the Gophers once again came back ready to play and dumped the Indiana Hoosiers by 23 points.  The Gophers held Indiana to 32% shooting from the field and, perhaps more important, didn’t allow them to get anything going from beyond the [...]

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Buzzed! Gophers 68 – Wisconsin 52

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Well I’ll be….where in the name of Clem Haskins has this team been all season.  Intensity, concentration, EXECUTION.  If all it takes is a shaved head to win in this business, than maybe Joel Maturi should consider bringing Andre Agassi on board as a consultant. Not that it even comes close to making up for [...]

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Bubble burst(ing) Michigan 71 – Gophers 63

Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by zipsofakron.

I came into yesterday’s game with above-average expectations for a team that, for the most part, has underachieved all season.  They’d been up and down for the better part of the last month but were coming off a stretch where they had won two of three and seemed to have been gaining some momentum after [...]

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Westbrooked

Posted on 07. Feb, 2010 by JF.

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Quick Thoughts: Its not over!

Posted on 06. Feb, 2010 by JF.

What’s that? Something good finally happened to the Gopher basketball team. I don’t care who you are playing, the circumstances, or the pre-game predictions, a road win in the Big Ten is huge. Minnesota needed to win to keep the season alive, and they got the job done! The seniors finally stepped up today. The [...]

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Part 1: The Lost Season

Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by JF.

The 2009-2010 Gopher basketball season hasn’t gone the way any expected or wanted. The string of close losses, catching Portland at absolutely the wrong time, a near epic comeback at Indiana, the epic anti-comeback against Michigan State, and the most lackluster defensive performance at Ohio State have been equal parts frustrating, confusing, and infuriating, and [...]

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Turnaround Time: Gophers 65 – Northwestern 61

Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by zipsofakron.

The Gophers came into their contest against Northwestern sitting squarely on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament and desperately in need of stopping a three-game slide that had included meltdowns and upsets.  A loss against Northwestern would have meant an almost insurmountable road to the Big Dance and another “should’ve” miss that has plagued the [...]

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Game 19 Preview: Gophers vs. Michigan State

Posted on 22. Jan, 2010 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Michigan State Spartans 11:00 am (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: CBS Tickets: Gone “As the Barn Turns,” “The Young and the Barnless,” “General Barnspital” (sorry, one too many)… whatever you want to call this season, it has seen more surprises and plot twists than the average [...]

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Respectable at least: Gophers 53 – Michigan State 60

Posted on 13. Jan, 2010 by JF.

Well, that wasn’t too bad. Any Gopher fan with any sort of memory dreads heading to the Breslin Center, which has been a house of horrors in recent years for the Gophers including last season’s disaster. The Gophers were run out of they gym that night. Tonight, they probably should have run some more. Superficially, [...]

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Quick thoughts: Gophers 73 – Ohio State 62

Posted on 09. Jan, 2010 by JF.

The Gophers move to 3-1 in the Big Ten with an excellent performance against Ohio State who was finally at full strength. There will be a more in-depth review after I re-watch the game and overcome my post exciting game amnesia. Blake Hoffarber has finally, definitively, shut up his critics. After every great game he [...]

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Game 13 Review: Gophers get on Westbrook’s back, beat Penn State

Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by JF.

Everyone knew which player would get the ball, and everyone knew he would shoot at the first opportunity. No one could stop the shots, or the ball from hitting nothing but the bottom of the net. No, I’m not talking about Talor Battle, who did have quite the game. Instead it was Lawrence Westbrook that [...]

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Game 7 Preview: Gophers vs. Miami Hurricanes

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by JF.

Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Miami Hurricanes 6:15 pm (CST) at the BankUnited Center Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: ESPN U Liveblog: Redemption is only just a game away, and the Gophers have a chance to not just end their early season slide, but also to make a statement, represent their conference, and vault themselves back [...]

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Game 6 Review: Clutch slump continues

Posted on 29. Nov, 2009 by JF.

The Gophers now know who they are and where they are, and now they can learn and grow. This weekend’s 76 Classic didn’t turn out the way most people thought or hoped, especially after the win against Butler that is growing less impressive by the day (Butler barely beat UCLA and lost a nail-biter to [...]

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Quick Thoughts: Gophers 76 Utah Valley 51

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by JF.

To be expanded upon at a later time… Lawrence Westbrook is to the Gophers’ offense what Damian Johnson is to the defense. Westbrook was out with food poisoning, and the Gopher offense was out of it. Bold prediction: Rodney Williams will be the Big Ten freshman of the year. The little kid basketball half-time scrimmage [...]

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Game 2 Review: A slow start, and then a slaughter

Posted on 17. Nov, 2009 by JF.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a bit nervous throughout most of the first half of the Gophers 82-42 win over the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. Over the weekend Iowa lost to Southland Conference also-ran UT-San Antonio, and for a while at least it appeared that the Lumberjacks had an upset on [...]

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The threes finally fall as the Gophers win again

Posted on 10. Nov, 2009 by JF.

Another exhibition game, another big win, and another positive development that may only be  result of an exhibition game. After last season’s atrocious three-point shooting, the Gophers may have broken out of their funk last night during their 98-49 victory over the Minnesota-Moorhead Dragons. Last year the Gophers made less than 33% of their three [...]

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And finally a positive distraction

Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 7:00 pm (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: Bigtennetwork.com (Streaming for $2.99) Tickets: Best available- Row 11, upper deck, center court It has been pointed out many times here and by many others elsewhere that Gopher basketball is the perfect distraction from the [...]

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Gophers trying to continue success while the Longhorns hope to salvage their season

Posted on 18. Mar, 2009 by JF.

#10 Golden Gophers vs. #7 Texas Longhorns 6:10 pm (CDT) at Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: CBS Liveblog: Starting half an hour before the game At approximately 6:1o central time on Thursday, March 19, Minnesota’s 2008-2009 basketball season will officially become a success. This was supposed to a rebuilding year, [...]

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Gophers defeat Northwestern 66-53: As it happened

Posted on 12. Mar, 2009 by JF.

Like just about everyone else, I spent a good part of the lunch hour listening to the game on the radio while also trying to follow it on line. Thankfully, the Big Ten Network decided to replay the game, giving me a chance to see what happened without the Gopher radio announcers constantly badgering the [...]

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Barn Blurbs 3/10/09

Posted on 10. Mar, 2009 by JF.

Gopher hoops: Tense bubble watch Michael Thompson gets added to NU’s “Big Two” but we all know Moore and Coble are the real threat. Breaking down the Big Ten Tournament bracket Northwestern in a blow out? Minnesota Gophers men not out of hunt for an NCAA tournament berth Florida, Miami, and Maryland are on your [...]

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Tubby, time out, turnovers, put tournament in doubt

Posted on 08. Mar, 2009 by JF.

And now the waiting, the worrying, and the wondering can begin in earnest. With a chance to jump off the bubble and land comfortably in the NCAA tournament, season long problems persisted and the Gophers dropped their heartbreaking and winnable Big Ten finale to Michigan. The regular season loss was a microcosm of a roller [...]

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A win to get in

Posted on 06. Mar, 2009 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Michigan Wolverines 11:00 am (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: ESPN Tickets: Long gone Chatroom: Yes, chat early and often The Michigan Perspective: UMHoops.com It has been five months and thirty games since the season started. After twists, turns, peaks, valleys, miracle comebacks, epic failures, injuries, shocking [...]

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Badgers beat, sweep complete!

Posted on 05. Mar, 2009 by JF.

As anyone who has participated in a live blog here can tell you, I check my objective blogger persona at the door when the Gophers are in a close game. This is especially the case at The Barn when Wisconsin comes to town.  While comparisons to past games and various statistics are still floating around [...]

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On 3/5/09 Barn Blurbs is Westbrooked

Posted on 05. Mar, 2009 by JF.

University of Wisconsin Badgers lose to Minnesota Gophers Bo blames Badger loss on exhaustion. If slow ball is wearing his team down, they really need to hit the tread mill. Badgers burned in The Barn Landry disagrees, and argues that running up a hill has his team in excellent physical condition. Clutch Westbrook leads Gophers [...]

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Badgers in town for a Border Bubble Battle

Posted on 03. Mar, 2009 by JF.

#17 Golden Gophers vs.Wisconsin Badgers Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers 7:30 (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: BTN Tickets: Long gone Chatroom: Yes, as long as I remember to set it up Meaningful March basketball will finally make its return to The Barn on Wednesday when the Gophers take on [...]

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Three streaks down, another to go?

Posted on 26. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs.  Illinois Fighting Illini 6:00 pm (CST) at Assembly Hall Radio: WCCO 830 AM Tv: Big Ten Network Liveblog: Yup In a season of snapped streaks this one might be too much. After winning at Wisconsin, beating Illinois, and sweeping Indiana for the first time in far too long, the Gophers attempt to [...]

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One down, two to go in “Operation get three, drama free”

Posted on 23. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Get rid of your expectations and enjoy the ride. Trying to figure out how the Gophers will play on any given night will just give you a headache, and any Gopher fan will want to be pain and distraction free from what will surely be the most exciting last three Big Ten games that the [...]

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Minnesota vs. Northwestern: Now it is serious

Posted on 22. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Northwestern Wildcats 6:00 (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: BTN Tickets: Still a few obstructed seats left Chatroom: I won’t be here, but if you are, stop by and discuss the game The stakes are high and this preview will be brief. If the Gophers are to [...]

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