From The Barn

What a weekend!

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by JF.

The reaction: “We all jumped together,” point guard Devoe Joseph said. “I think we might have damaged the couch in there.” Damaged would be putting it mildly. “We did break the couch,” shooting guard Lawrence Westbrook confirmed. “We were excited to see our name.” “I honestly had no clue,” said Joseph, who made the All-Tournament [...]

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A chance to dance, but it will take two to tango

Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by JF.

Last year I wrote that March is the season of redemption. This year, the Gophers need some redemption and then some. Even though they finished with the same Big Ten record and higher in the conference standings, they find themselves in a much worse position in terms of reaching the NCAA tournament. Coming into this [...]

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The Penn State Game: Plus/Minus

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by JF.

The Big Ten Geeks have once again generously calculated plus/minus statistics for a Gopher basketball game, this time for that epic (note the semi-sarcasm) win over Penn State. In blow-outs, plus/minus statistics can be pretty meaningless. The plus/minus statistics also often become just a function of playing time. If a player plays every second of [...]

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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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Gophers at Penn State: Much needed changes for a Must Win Game

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by JF.

Golden Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions 1:00 pm (CST) at Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, PA) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: Big Ten Network For the better part of a month, I’ve been claiming each upcoming game was not a must win. Those games were important, and every conference game ultimately will have some [...]

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By the Numbers: Nine to Go

Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by zipsofakron.

Gophers: 13-8, 4-5 in the Big Ten.  Nine games to go.  Lost four of their last five.  Can things look bleaker? It’s hard not to be discouraged after a season in which such high hopes have disintegrated into an abysmal pool of mediocrity.  Results have fallen miles short of expectations, players have walked away from [...]

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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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Quick Thoughts: Gophers 75 – Penn State 70

Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by JF.

That was closer than it should have been, but the Gophers took care of business when it matter most. A few quick thoughts before a full review tomorrow: This close win is probably more meaningful in the long run than any blow-out would have been. The Gophers needed a confidence boost, especially in a close [...]

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Livechat: Gophers vs. Penn State

Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by JF.

Gophers vs. Nittany Lions – Fullscreen

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Big Ten/Game 13 Preview: Gophers vs. Penn State

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by JF.

This regularly scheduled preview has been replaced by a conversation with Eric from Battle Does It Again, has answered a few pressing questions about The Fighting Talor Battles and tomorrow night’s game. Golden Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions 8:00 pm (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: ESPN 2 Tickets: [...]

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Barnblurbs 11/18/09: Twitter, in-game coverage, and a look around the Big Ten

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by JF.

By request, we are trying to add some Twitter functionality. We have already added the widget on the right hand side of the site. If you or anyone else uses the hash tag #umnhoops it will be fed through the widget and appear there. For those of you gifted with a good cell phone, skinny [...]

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Barn Blurbs 2/17/09

Posted on 17. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Royce White named a Jordan Brand All-American I hope this doesn’t mean he will need to carve a swoosh into his faux-hawk. Post-Minnesota tidbits A detailed break down of bad officiating and worse turnovers, if you are into that sort of thing. Gopher backcourt searching for backbone The city pages does a little numbering crunching, [...]

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Generous Gophers give Nittany Lions Valentine’s Day gift

Posted on 15. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Maybe you have seen a game like this before. The Gophers get out to a dreadful start that is matched by a just as pathetic effort by their opponents. The Gophers fall behind on a momentum swinging buzzer beater at the end of the first half. Turnovers, poor decisions, and embarrassing mistakes, give their opponents [...]

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Liveblog: Gophers vs. Penn State

Posted on 14. Feb, 2009 by JF.

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&#038;task=viewaltcast&#038;altcast_code=71bb945088″ mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=71bb945088″ >Gophers vs. Penn State</a>

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Barn Blurbs 2/6/09

Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by JF.

Bracketology Gophers are a #6 seed, but face cindeeralla-lock Utah State in the first round. Higher salaries often mean more victories One would certainly hope so. Jim Souhan: Cold spell slaps Twin Cities sharpshooters Its contagious! Bubble bounce! Gophers pick up two convenient wins from Big Ten under dogs.

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Post-game reading: #19 Minnesota 79 Penn State 59

Posted on 12. Jan, 2009 by JF.

Tubby’s #19 Gophers Dominate Penn State 79-59 For the game, Minnesota shot an ungodly 62 percent from the floor, a byproduct of being iron hot, but also the aforementioned efficiency on offense. Weekend Review You could point out that the Gophers were fortunate to get some hot shooting after going 9-9 from three and shooting 63% [...]

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With the basket as big as the ocean, #19 Gophers crush Penn State

Posted on 11. Jan, 2009 by JF.

Maybe the ugliness in Iowa City on Thursday was worth it after all, because the Gophers appear to have gotten all the bad offense out of their system. Led by a pair of junior college transfers, the Gophers did not miss a three pointer and shot 62.5% from the floor including 9-9 three pointers to [...]

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Chatroom: #19 Minnesota vs. Penn State

Posted on 11. Jan, 2009 by JF.

If you are watching the game at home, and yelling at the TV just isn’t good enough, try typing IN ALL CAPS. I’ll be at the game, but would love to hear what you think about the Gophers as they take on the Nittany Lions. Archive.

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Pre-game Reading: #19 Minnesota vs. Penn State

Posted on 11. Jan, 2009 by JF.

Penn State Hater I’m predicting a surprisingly great game out of Cornley, and a career type game out of senior backup guard Danny Morrissey, currently averaging a career low in points and three point percentage, but who inexplicably goes off for 25 points, including 7-10 on three pointers. Despite that, the Gophers still take a [...]

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#19 Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Penn State: Another small opponent, and more big problems?

Posted on 10. Jan, 2009 by JF.

#19  Golden Gophers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions 2:30 (CST) at Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Radio: WCCO 830 AM TV: Big Ten Network Tickets: Still a few obstructed seats left Chatroom: I won’t be here, but if you are, stop by and discuss the game It is not a coincidence that the Gophers seem to [...]

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The Penn State game is alumni day

Posted on 09. Jan, 2009 by JF.

Nearly five dozen former Gophers men’s basketball players will attend Minnesota’s Alumni Day game Sunday against Penn State and a reception at Williams Arena. With that news, and a blatant attempt to spur some conversation, who are your favorite and least favorite Gophers of all time, and why? I’ll have more on the Gophers road [...]

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The Blogosphere Previews the Big Ten

Posted on 19. Nov, 2008 by JF.

A few of you may remember what can only be described, in the words of the kids these days, my “Epic Fail” of a Big Ten Preview last year. Not only did I begin my preview half way through the season, but I started with the worst teams first, and didn’t bother finishing it. While [...]

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Jamal Abu-Shamala tears up the Jones Cup

Posted on 19. Jul, 2008 by JF.

We all know what he can do against Northwestern. Now imagine what he could do in a tournament full of Northwestern level competition. Averaging 16 ppg over the first 7 games of the Jones Cup isn’t bad, especially for a kid who will be lucky to see 16 minutes in any game this coming year. [...]

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Minnesota beats Penn State in the battle of the comebacks.

Posted on 25. Feb, 2008 by JF.

Every basketball prediction should come with a built in caveat or two. If a player is unstoppable, like Lawrence McKenzie was the other night, no amount of analysis of the factors that can determine the outcome of a game really matter. Another caveat, on display yesterday afternoon, is that if a team that is shooting [...]

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Minnesota shouldn’t need a miracle to beat Penn State

Posted on 23. Feb, 2008 by JF.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at Penn State’s record, but Minnesota’s shocking, come from behind victory at Happy Valley in the first week of the Big Ten season was as close as Minnesota has come to a quality victory. Back then, the Nittany Lions were the upstart team in the conference, with consecutive road [...]

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Nolen and the Gophers steal huge win at Penn State

Posted on 12. Jan, 2008 by JF.

Six minutes into the second half it all began to fall apart. A missed lay up, a bad pass, bad shot selection, and seemingly every time down the court, Danny Morrissey would hit a wide open three pointer. What had been a three point Penn State half time lead had quickly ballooned into a 16 [...]

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Minnesota and Penn State both looking for respect

Posted on 12. Jan, 2008 by JF.

If you frequent this site and happen to have read my preview of Penn State, you may have noticed that the post was a bit schizophrenic. For several paragraphs I wrote glowingly (or as glowingly as possible for a Penn State basketball team), but when it came to actually predicting the outcomes of their Big [...]

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Big Ten Preview: Penn State University

Posted on 01. Jan, 2008 by JF.

Time is quickly running out for Geary Claxton and the rest of the chronically under-achieving Penn State Nittany Lions. Last year, no one expected Penn State to compete for a conference title, but a player as good as Claxton should be able to lead a team to more than 2 conference wins. PSU has already [...]

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