Gophers on loss at Illinois: 'We got bullied'

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Respond to adversity. Play harder defense. Play with more consistent energy for a full 40 minutes. Win the rebounding battle and the race to loose balls.

There are plenty of things the Gopher basketball team can work on after one of its worst losses in Richard Pitino’s five-plus seasons. Illinois was more physical, tougher and dominated the Gophers in every phase Wednesday night in a 95-68 win for its first Big Ten victory. It was also just the fifth win of the season for the Illini.

It’s the same Illinois team that had lost to Georgetown and Florida Atlantic on its home court earlier this season. The Gophers shot 44 percent from the field, just 3-of-14 from three-point range and committed 15 turnovers. Most glaringly, they were out-rebounded 39-26 against the worst rebounding team in the Big Ten.

“The physicality of everything that they did affected us in that area. Maybe it was cutting, maybe it was posting up, attacking in transition. I thought all of it, they physically manhandled us and it carried over to those other spots,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said.

Illinois smothering defense forced Minnesota into tough shots all night. Amir Coffey, the Big Ten’s leading scorer in league games, was limited to nine points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field. Jordan Murphy finished with just 11 points on six shots from the field, and a mere three rebounds.

It's a performance they’ll need to learn from as they host Penn State Saturday night at Williams Arena.

“We didn’t compete, we let them bully us on the rebounding end of things,” senior guard Dupree McBrayer said of Illinois. McBrayer finished with seven points on 3-of-8 shooting. “We just got bullied, we didn’t compete.”

The Nittany Lions come to Minneapolis still winless on their Big Ten schedule. They’re the lone league team left without a victory at 0-7. It’s essentially a must-win for the Gophers, with the stretch after including at No. 2 Michigan and consecutive home games against Iowa and Illinois.

But the Gophers need to focus on themselves and some disturbing trends in their losses this year. They shot just 29 percent, including less than 20 percent from three-point range, in a loss at Boston College. The Eagles are 4-6 since and have yet to win in the ACC.

The Gophers were physically over-powered in a 20-point loss at Ohio State, less than 48 hours after beating Oklahoma State at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Buckeyes out-rebounded Minnesota 42-33, and the Gophers shot 0-for-13 from three-point range. They also missed 13 free throws.

The Gophers also crumbled in the second half in their only home loss of the season as Maryland went on a 22-7 run to beat Minnesota 82-67. They were out-rebounded 39-28 and shot 41 percent from the field. When they lose, they’re not making shots and they’re not getting rebounds. Pitino described the four losses as “demoralizing.”

“It’s been the way that we have lost that’s been demoralizing, and I think it just comes down to when the ball doesn’t go in the basket, it’s affecting our energy on the other side. That’s probably the most consistent thing that we’ve got to get better at,” Pitino said. “We’ve got to get tougher and get over the fact that the ball doesn’t go in. We’ve just got to move on and we’ve got to understand what it takes to win on the road in this league.”

The good news is that there is no finger pointing. Players are holding themselves accountable, and the focus is on playing the right way. Do that, and the wins should take care of themselves.

The Gophers are 8-1 at home this season, and it’s largely because they’ve defended well and scored in transition. They’re playing their best when the ball gets immediately down the floor for an easy basket off a miss or after a turnover.

They want their defense to create and initiate their offense, especially if shots aren’t falling in the half-court.

“We can control everything on the defensive end. If the ball’s not falling, we can do everything a little bit harder. We can crash the boards harder, we can get in passing lanes harder,” McBrayer said. “Create things that will go on the offensive end and get us going.”

Most of all, they want to give their home fans something the cheer about. They get a chance to play a primetime game against a conference opponent, and sometimes there’s nothing better than getting back out on the floor after a blowout loss.

They’re ready to be back on the Williams Arena floor. After all, their average margin of defeat in three road losses is 19.6 points. Saturday is a chance for redemption after an embarrassing performance on Wednesday.

“Just show that definitely wasn’t who we are, that’s not who we want to be known as,” junior Michael Hurt said. “We just want to come out and compete for our fans. Go out and win a game.”