One game after going to overtime with the lowly Green Bay Gottliebs the Gophers found themselves in an unexpected rock fight with the perennially lowly Chicago State Cougars on Tuesday night. After racing
out to a 22-8 lead to begin the game, it looked like Minnesota would get back to cruising over 300+ KenPom teams that now pass through the Barn in droves. However, that lead slowly slipped away into a late-second half deficit to the Cougars, who took a 47-45 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the game thanks to some incredibly poor shooting from the patchwork Gophers and a six-minute-plus field goal drought. After switching to a zone defense, which upset the Chicago State momentum, and ripping off a timely 11-0 run, Minnesota got back on track and escaped what would have been a disastrous loss. For those that remember, the 2022 Gophers narrowly escaped Chicago State as well.
THE STAT: Tyson led all scorers with 22 points on 6-13 shooting, while going 7-8 from the foul line.
TURNING POINT: Chicago State took advantage of a long FG drought for the Gophers and established a 47-45 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the game. With Minnesota struggling mightily from the field, Coach Niko Medved switched into a zone defense that turned things around, forced Cougar turnovers, and led to a decisive 11-0 run for Minnesota to take control.
HOT: Minnesota committed only eight fouls in the game, putting Chicago State at the line just ten times.
NOT: The Gophers shot a putrid 37% from the field, including 7-28 from deep. Bobby Durkin, the Davidson transfer who was brought in to be a sneaky sharpshooter, was 0-5 from deep and is now 1-14 over the last three games.
NOTABLE: PF/C Robert Vaihola went down with an apparent knee injury in the second half and had to be helped off the court. Given the lack of depth in the frontcourt, Vaihola missing extended time could be impactful as the Gophers take on some heavy hitters over the next four weeks.
DID YOU KNOW: This game was technically the on-campus portion of the Acrisure Series, of which both Minnesota and Chicago State are part of. Minnesota gets the glory of playing in the Acrisure Invitational as part of the overall event during Thanksgiving weekend, while Chicago State is sacrificed as a visiting “campus site” team to both Minnesota and Saint Louis.
UP NEXT: The Gophers meet the San Francisco Dons in Sioux Falls on Saturday (NBCSN/Peacock) before heading out west to take on Stanford and Saint Louis/Santa Clara as part of the Acrisure Invitational over the Thanksgiving break.
