Was it just me or did tonight feel like a bad kind of familiar?

In their last 10 games, the Gophers have done this a lot. They've given us dramatic games --coming back out of nowhere, but struggling to hold on to leads and hardly ever winning with ease. But the difference tonight was that it felt like the Gophers lost the one aspect of these recent dramatic games that was a positive. In four of the five previous games, the Gopher had simply found a way to win. They had made the plays that mattered, when they mattered. Tonight, they didn't have that, and it was obvious down the stretch. Some quick notes from tonight's 63-59 loss:

  • The Gophers got into a quick hole, down 15-3 in the first half. They made just one of their first eight shots and had 10 turnovers – all ugly – halfway through the first.
  • After looking half-dead early, the Gophers were able to go on a big run and hold Iowa, which shot poorly all game. Ralph Sampson III sparked the 22-7 attack that put the Gophers up 27-24 going into the break, but he did it mostly on offense. Both he and Rodney Williams didn't have a rebound at all through the first half. Not a good sign.
  • The Gophers stretched it to 10 in the second, but lost it in two minutes. Austin Hollins said afterward it wasn't so much the zone itself that was messing up the Gophers, but their inability to execute their own plays against it. In general, the communication and execution was poor with the Gophers tonight – they often threw the ball away and looked like they were fighting themselves.
  • The Gophers shot just 39.2 percent for the game, but shockingly finished on top of Iowa in that category. The Hawkeyes were limited to just 37.5.
  • Coleman, after playing big games in his last five, finished with no points and six rebounds. Coincidence that the Gophers seemed sluggish without him? I think not.
  • Tonight makes two straight games where the Gophers were weak on free throws. They went 9-for-14 from the line.
  • Andre Hollins seems to be coming into his own some. He looked sharp at times again on Wednesday, hitting a three-pointer to give the Gophers their first lead of the game and made a long two-point shot to boost the Gophers to a 10-point padding. He also had two assists and one turnover.
  • Tonight's loss was weirdly similar to the first Iowa game in which the Gophers had a double-digit lead, lost it quickly and fell apart down the stretch.