I want to congratulate Tubby Smith and Minnesota
for knocking off #1 Indiana last night. That was a huge win for
them. Now they are 19-9 overall with a conference record of 7-8.
This win in my mind should make them a tournament team come March
Madness. When you look at some of the teams they have beaten, like then
ranked #19 Memphis, then ranked #12 Illinois in Champaign, then ranked #20
Wisconsin in Minnesota and last night #1 Indiana. According to their
schedule, they have the toughest schedule in the nation. Their opponent's
strength of schedule is right around 0.623 based on team win-loss
records. Lets go to last night's game.
What impressed me about the Golden Gopher's victory
last night was Minnesota Forward Trevor Mbakwe played very well especially
against perhaps the best player in the nation in Cody Zeller. Cody Zeller
was only 2-9 from the field with 9 points, he was 5-5 from the foul line with 7
rebounds and fouled out as well. I felt the play of the game was when
Mbakwe blocked Cody Zeller's dunk attempt right near the basket. He played very
well against the #1 ranked team, his stat line: 21 points, on 8-10 shooting
from the field to go along with 12 rebounds. Minnesota out rebounded
Indiana 38-25 to go along with 17 offensive rebounds.
This is the 3rd time Indiana lost as the #1 ranked
team in the nation. The first time Indiana lost was against Butler on Dec 15 at
Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. Guard Alex Barlow hit the
game winning shot with 2.3 seconds left in overtime, as Butler dealt Indiana
their first loss of the season. Then, of course the Fighting Illini of
Illinois giving Indiana as a #1 ranked team their 3rd loss of the season on
February 7. On an in bounds pass from Brandon Paul, Forward Tyler Griffey
cuts to the basket wide open and scored the game winning layup. As the ball
went through the basket along with buzzer sounding, the fans stormed the court
and celebrated with the Illini players. The Hoosiers led by as many as
14, the Illini only 3. The Illini outscored the Hooisers 45-31 in the 2nd
half, after being outscored 41-29 in the first half. ESPN broadcaster Joe
Tessitore, one of my favorite announcers, often calls upset games. He
made a great call when the Illini made the game winning shot against the
Hoosiers with ESPN College Basketball Analyst Sean Farnham his partner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbgkeMIfNM.
Indiana is the 10th team to lose 3 times in the regular season as the #1 team
in the country.
The other 9 teams did not win the NCAA Tournament,
but maybe Indiana can change that. The other 9 teams on the list are
64-65 Michigan, 73-74 UCLA, 85-86 North Carolina, 89-90 Kansas, 93-94 North
Carolina, 97-98 Duke, 1999-2000 Cincinnati, 02-03 Arizona and 05-06 Duke.
That is interesting right there. Minnesota Golden Gopher fans sure had a
blast when they got to storm the court as the #1 Hoosiers went down.
