The Gophers faced off against Princeton in the title game at the Asheville Championship in a game that took two overtime periods to decide. Despite some struggles at the free throw line and fatigue down the stretch, Minnesota was able to pull it together late and bring home the trophy with an 87-80 win. These are a few of my takeaways as well as key players from the victory!
Scoring Off The Dribble
In the first two games of the season it seemed as if most of the offense was going to come via team basketball, with guys using screens and off-ball cuts to get high percentage looks around the basket. Last night was a bit different though as guys like Payton Willis and Jamison Battle proved that they can also get their own shots off the dribble. We saw it from Jamison in the first half as he was using a limited amount of dribbles to quickly and effectively create space in the mid-range and knock down those shots at a high percentage. He proved to be not just a three point shooter, but a three level scorer. Payton Willis seemed to flip the switch once the second half buzzer sounded, as he took over in the two overtime periods. He was pulling up with a hand right in his face and knocking down tough jumpers in a way we haven't seen from any Gophers this year. It was promising to see as he looks to be someone who can hit a tough shot late in the shot clock for a team that doesn't have a lot of shot creators.
Struggles At The Free Throw Line
The Gophers were abysmal at the free throw line in last night's game. They shot just 15-29, good for 51.7% from the charity stripe, leaving 14 points off the board overall. Had they just shot 60% or better, it's likely the game would have never gone into overtime in the first place. Somehow Princeton actually converted at a lower percentage at the line, although they only had 12 attempts so it's a lower sample size to look at. If Minnesota hopes to pick up some wins in the Big 10 against high major opponents, they're going to need to step it up at the free throw line as they can't afford to be giving up free points in close game situations.
Defending The Three Point Line
One of the positive takeaways from the game last night? That would be Minnesota's ability to contest the three point shot. Princeton is a team that likes to shoot the three, and Minnesota did a great job of closing out with a hand up, or fighting over high ball screens to get a nice contest on just about every look that Princeton had beyond the arc. This led to Princeton shooting just 21.4% on 6-28 shooting from deep. That led to just two more 3's made than Minnesota, despite taking 18 more attempts. Although the Gophers did need to do a better job at securing the long rebounds off of those misses, it was encouraging to see them hold this Princeton team to such a low percentage from three.
Key Players For Minnesota
Payton Willis- 29 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Jamison Battle- 24 points, 11 rebounds
Sean Sutherlin- 14 points, 6 rebounds (off the bench)
Key Players For Princeton
Jaelin Llewellyn- 19 points
Ethan Wright- 14 points, 18 rebounds, 3 steals
Tosan Evbuomwan- 16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
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