Down Goes (Another) #1

Tonight, another #1 ranked team went down.  Tonight, another court was stormed (below).  Tonight, the Indiana Hoosiers fell to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis.

Impact Players: Trevor Mbakwe led the way for the Gophers with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but more importantly he held star Indiana center Cody Zeller in check for most of the game.  Mbakwe's effort, along with some timely contributions by backup Elliott Eliason, held Zeller to just 9 points.  Zeller, who eventually fouled out of the game, was not the only Hoosier star who was held in check tonight.  Christian Watford had only 2 points until about 1:00 left, when he made 2 threes just to claw Indiana back to a 4 point deficit. Jordan Hulls and Victor Oladipo led the way for Indiana with 17 and 16 respectively.  Minnesota guard Andre Hollins also added 16 points to go along with his brother Austin's 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.

What This Means: This brings Indiana's record to 24-4 with a 12-3 conference record.  This loss opens up the Big Ten regular season title race, with Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin all sitting with 4 conference losses.  Indiana still has to travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan.  As for Minnesota, this win propels them to a 19-9 record (7-8 in conference).  Some people were beginning to doubt the Gophers, who after a fast start to the season, have tapered off over the last month.  But this win solidifies them as a team that will make it to the NCAA Tournament, as long as they take of business against Penn State, Nebraska, and Purdue (all teams with losing records) to finish out their season.  I am projecting Indiana for a 1 or 2 seed, and Minnesota for a 9 or 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

This win meant so much for Minnesota that their normally reserved and calm coach Tubby Smith did this in the locker room after the game:

This is why I love college basketball. 'Til next time.