It's senior day and the players said a lot about winning for Ralph Sampson III today, the lone healthy on the team.
But they need to win it for many reasons other than that.
As I wrote in the Star Tribune, today against Nebraska is the Gophers last chance to attempt to build some spark of momentum and confidence heading into the Big Ten tournament. And a loss against bottom-dweller Nebraska, on the heels of a six-game slide, would be the most degrading yet.
"That's definitely important for us [to win]," Rodney Williams said. "Last year we had that big losing steak back then and we lost the last one too. When we went to the Big Ten tournament, we gave that one away. I definitely think with a win, you go in there more positive. If things are going good for you, you can go in there more confident in everything."
Three things the Gophers need to focus on in this game are:
1. Shooting –they haven't shot over 31 percent in two games.
2. Execution – numerous games were lost by something small, or many small things.
3. Taking care of the ball – turnovers remain a problem for the Gophers. They cut down on those, and the results could be a lot different.
Other notes:
• Julian Welch has been dealing with a sore hip for more than a week now, and hasn't practiced at all since the game at Wisconsin, where he did not play at all. An MRI showed no damage, but Welch is still sore and his status is questionable for today. Coach Tubby Smith suggested that he would play at least some, but he still wasn't sure how much. With the opponent, it might make sense to rest Welch for the tournament.

• Maverick Ahanmisi has been dealing with a turned ankle and is still favoring it slightly, but Smith says he's doing well, and is expected to play in his normal role.

• While the possibility of Trevor Mbakwe applying for and getting a sixth year is still out there, the forward will also be honored during senior day.
Smith on Sampson III: "He's been the most consistent player we've had, he's been here for just about every game. I appreciate what he's meant to the program. He'll get his degree and hopefully he'll play beyond here.
"It's quite an honor to coach both of those young men [Sampson and Mbakwe], and especially Ralph. He's given us everything that we … I think all that he could give. This is his last, so hopefully he'll come out and be ready to play. I know his teammates are very supportive of him and are anxious to send him off with a win."
Smith on the team and whether he's seen any change in the way they've approached the end of the season: "I don't know that this group – that's just their, I can' say their attitude [is bad] because they've got a good attitude. But what happens is, winning is a habit and losing is a habit. So it's hard to break that bad habit of losing, you get caught in a cycle, a downward spiral. I haven't had any complaints with their effort all year long other than the Indiana game and maybe we had a couple letdowns during spurts in games. Having said that, I think we're getting the most out of them.
"But when you tell them they've got to overachieve, got to find a sense of urgency or I like to say you've got to give a little more effort, a little more energy … but I've seen it in practice, I've seen it in Rodney and I've seen it in Ralph. So it's contagious. We've just got to break the cycle, the losing, I think one win would do a world of good, it would help us raise ourselves from the grave."