First-half turnaround powers Gophers to win over UNC-Wilmington
MINNEAPOLIS -- In the blink of an eye, a nine-point deficit all of a sudden became a 10-point lead, then 15. Everything that could go right for Minnesota did go right for the Gophers during an impressive first-half run.
In its final non-conference test of the season, Minnesota found itself trailing early to visiting UNC-Wilmington. But thanks to perhaps the Gophers' most impressive stretch of basketball this year, Minnesota cruised to a 108-82 victory to round out non-conference play with an 11-2 record. The Gophers had a stretch of nearly five minutes in which they outscored the Seahawks 22-2, including a 17-0 run.
Scoring runs like the one the Gophers had Saturday probably won't come around much in the Big Ten, but Minnesota needed a spurt like that to squash any doubts against the Seahawks.
"I think we're playing well, I really do," said Gophers coach Richard Pitino. "I think we're doing a lot of good things. . . . We are sharing the ball at a rate that we have not done since I've ever been a coach."
The offensive run started with eight minutes left in the first half after UNCW took a 29-20 lead on the Gophers. From that point, Minnesota took over.
It started with a Charles Buggs 3-pointer. The 6-foot-9 sophomore doesn't shoot a ton from long range, but he connected on one to answer a UNCW basket to trim the lead back to six points. Buggs went on to shoot 3-for-3 from downtown Saturday, but that was the biggest of his shots.
"I like to shoot threes, but I've been missing a lot, so I've had to work on that," said Buggs, who matched his career high with 13 points. "I feel like more the defense was what helped me get going on offense. Playing good defense is what kind of helps us and even pushes the whole team to start scoring more."
After the Seahawks responded to Buggs' three, center Mo Walker scored on a second-effort shot in the paint. Walker later dunked on a nice passing sequence from Buggs and Andre Hollins, a basket that cut UNCW's lead to 31-27.
An old-fashioned 3-point play by Carlos Morris -- who scored a career-high 24 points in Saturday's win -- bought Minnesota to within a point at 31-30. But it wasn't until another 3-point play by Morris not long after that the Gophers got their first lead (33-31) since they led 14-13 thanks to a 19-0 run.
Minnesota got contributions from several players during its one-sided run, but Morris had 10 of his 24 points during that stretch.
"I feel like I'm more comfortable and coach (Pitino) is more comfortable with me taking tough shots," Morris. "I feel way more comfortable than earlier in the season.
Turnovers were key during the Gophers' scoring stretch. Minnesota committed just two turnovers in the entire first half, while forcing 16 at the other end. The Gophers scored 20 points off turnovers, many of which came during that 22-2 run.
When asked what they biggest key was to their team's turnaround in the first half, Minnesota's players all cited defense. The Gophers forced UNCW to call a timeout on an inbounds pass after the defense swarmed the ball. Later in the first half, the Seahawks committed a five-second violation as a result of stingy defense by Minnesota.
All of that helped UNCW's early nine-point lead vanish.
"Guys' hands were active," said senior point guard DeAndre Mathieu, who had 13 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers. "We were really swarming the ball and just making it hard on the other team. That's really our calling card. When we do that we're a really, really good team."
Capping the entire 22-2 run was perhaps the Gophers' most aesthetically pleasing play of the afternoon. As Minnesota pushed the ball for a fast break, Buggs found Morris with a no-look pass that resulted in a layup as the Williams Arena crowd erupted.
By that point, the Gophers led 40-31, effectively erasing that previous 29-20 deficit. As for the no-look pass? Buggs says it's been in his arsenal for years. Pitino doesn't like it when the sophomore forward does it in practice, but he had to enjoy seeing it in action Saturday.
"I've been doing that for forever," Buggs said of the pass. "He wasn't that mad."
Minnesota now enters the Big Ten season with an 11-2 record, with the only losses coming to Louisville and St. John's. The Gophers' win Saturday was their eighth straight as they're gathering momentum at the right time.
It was the 22-2 run that helped Minnesota garner that momentum in Saturday's win. The Gophers simply looked like a different team after imposing their will against UNCW late in the first half. Now they hope it carries over into conference play.
"I definitely feel like we're getting better," said Walker, who chipped in 17 points. "I think we're growing every day. We're picking up on little things. . . . We know what to expect in the Big Ten. We've got to get the new guys on the right page. I think the Big Ten will be really competitive this year, as it always is."
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