After a rough start that saw Minnesota trail 9-0 early, Minnesota took over in the second half to record a blowout win over Purdue Fort Wayne. The turnaround performance saw the Gophers playing excellent team basketball in the second half, and it provided a great chance to see some new players get time off the bench. These are three takeaways from the game as well as a few key performers from the win.
The Sean Sutherlin Spark
After a slow start from Minnesota's starting five, Sean Sutherlin provided the necessary spark on both ends of the floor. He finished the game with 19 points on a perfect 7-7 shooting from the field. Sean was so dangerous attacking the basket with straight line drives and using his explosiveness and body control to finish. He also added in a powerful dunk off a baseline drive in the second half that got the crowd fired up. Defensively he was rebounding the ball at a high level while also drawing a charge and picking off a pass in quick succession. He's shown a lot of potential over the past two games to be a key piece off the bench.
Unselfish Offense
One of the reasons that Minnesota was able to recover and end up winning by nearly 30 was because of their unselfish brand of basketball on the offensive end. They finished the game with 16 assists compared to just 6 assists for Purdue Fort Wayne. This was the result of good ball movement and smart selection as guys were passing up solid looks to swing the ball one more time and get a wide open shot. Paint touches and ball reversals resulted in high percentage looks, as Minnesota was letting the offensive sets create shots rather than everyone trying to create off the dribble.
Scoring From Outside The Top Two
Jamison Battle and Payton Willis combined for just 18 points on the game, which is crazy considering both of them averaged 20+ coming into this game. How were the Gophers still able to win by nearly 30? We already talked up Sean Sutherlin's 19 points, but I also thought Luke Loewe put together a really nice game. He made some nice plays off the dribble and also showed off some great passing vision to find cutting teammates towards the basket for easy buckets. He finished with 12 points and 5 assists. EJ Stephens started off slow, but rallied late with three straight makes from beyond the arc as the Gophers blew the game open with about 5-6 minutes to play. That run saw him finish with 14 points. The Gophers got points from 9 different players which is easily the most they've gotten all season.
Key Players For Minnesota
Sean Sutherlin- 19 points, 7 rebounds
Luke Loewe- 12 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds
EJ Stephens- 14 points, 3 steals
Key Players For Purdue Fort Wayne
Jalon Pipkins- 19 points, 6 rebounds
Jarred Godfrey- 12 points, 6 rebounds
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