Tonight's game vs. Illinois tips at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on BTN and 1500-a.m.
In today's Star Tribune: Gophers' D is improving. But it still has a ways to go. Previewing both teams here.
With just over three minutes to play at Northwestern, Wildcat center Alex Olah came down on Mo Walker's foot, turning his ankle as the Gophers were grabbing the rebound. As the play continued, Andre Hollins drove in and kicked the ball over to Austin Hollins, who was waiting on the wing.
Swish. The Gophers were up by five, a gap that would prove too much for Northwestern to over come.
For a player who had only made one other shot all game -- and had been struggling offensively for the last three contests -- it was encouraging to see.
"There were a couple that I had missed earlier in the game that I thought were going in, so I just hadn't taken that many shots," Hollins said. "So when I had the open look, I was very confident shooting it and I knocked it down."
Coach Richard Pitino said he thinks part of the problem is that Hollins is trying to force shots he doesn't practice -- shots that are low-percentage at best -- such as the transition pull-up jumper.
"I said Austin, you're a good shooter," Pitino said. "It would be like if I go out and play golf, I don't hit my three-wood well, and I keep going to my three-wood. I said, 'Stop doing that!' That's a hard shot to take. And you saw later in the game and he hit a big shot. I think it's a hard shot to take, I think he needs to stop taking it.
