Gophers loss to Penn State hurts
Yes, it was close. Yes, it came down to a final shot by Blake Hoffarber to tie things up and send the game into overtime.
But when that shot fell short Thursday night, Tubby Smith’s Gophers added another bad loss to their resume, which could hurt the team come Selection Sunday.
At 17-9 overall, the Gophers are a disappointing 6-8 in the Big 10 after suffering too many losses at the guard position. Al Nolan’s been out with a foot injury, which was the final straw. Already this season they had lost two other perimeter players. With inexperience all around him in the back court, Hoffarber’s tried to carry the team on his shoulders, but is too often the subject of constant double-teaming, which is how Penn State slipped past Minnesota tonight.
The light fixtures in Williams Arena are burning a bit dimmer as the Big 10 season winds down and Tubby’s boys face the possibility of missing the Big Dance, and possible registering Smith’s first sub-20-win season in a long, long time.
It’ll take quite a bit of recruiting to fix the losses this team has suffered the past couple seasons. Fortunately, Smith’s the best man to fix what’s broken.
