Tubby Smith has the touch when tourney time comes

The same magic wand that Tubby Smith used in winning games in postseason tournaments at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky paid off for the Gophers on Thursday in a 55-52 victory over Northwestern.

Smith has had great success in postseason tournaments. He holds a 28-10 (.737) mark in postseason play. He won five conference tournaments at Kentucky. He has won at least one game in 13 of 15 tournaments he has coached.

On the other hand, the Gophers were 6-10 in postseason tournaments before Smith.

I questioned Smith when he said before the tournament that he believed his Gophers could play with any team in the tournament, and he was especially eager for another shot at Indiana if the Gophers beat the Wildcats.

And he said there was a chance the Gophers could win the tournament if they played up to their ability and didn't collapse in the final moments.

Well, it didn't appear that Smith had brought his magic to Minnesota when the Gophers trailed Northwestern by 16 points in the first half and 34-21 at the 20-minute mark.

And another negative was they had lost the services of center Spencer Tollackson because of a sprained ankle after playing only six minutes in the first half. Tollackson had played a big part in the Gophers beating Northwestern 82-63 at Williams Arena (12 points) and 92-72 in Evanston (19 points).

And Smith also had pointed out one of the most difficult things to do is to beat a team three times, even though Northwestern was 8-21 this year and was 1-17 in the conference.

This is not a game the Gophers would have won last year. And in fact one of the Gophers' weaknesses this season was blowing leads late in the game, which cost them chances for signature victories against Indiana and Michigan State. But that wasn't the case this time, as they took a 53-52 lead with 1:36 left and kept it.

Smith had been preaching about how the Gophers had to improve their rebounding and also quit turning over the ball late in the game.

The Gophers improved in both phases of the game Thursday. They outrebounded the Wildcats 29-22, including 8-2 on the offensive end. And they had only 10 turnovers. The Gophers got back in the game using defense. After the Wildcats shot 65 percent in the first half, including 56 percent on three-pointers, the Gophers clamped down. They limited the Wildcats to 27 percent shooting in the second half (6-for-22).

Well, if they get lucky today against Indiana, which beat the Gophers 65-60 and 69-55 during the regular season, and get to the finals against Wisconsin or Michigan State, maybe Smith's postseason magic will prevail.

But let's face the fact: That would be one of the real miracles in Gophers basketball history.

The Gophers start football practice early this year, on Aug. 3, because the season opener is Aug. 30 against Northern Illinois. Because some members of the football team might still be in summer school on Aug. 3, it might prevent them from working out early at St. John's University, which they did last year. However, coach Tim Brewster is eager to repeat last year's practice schedule, so he is trying to find a solution to the problem.

Harold Howell, the Gophers speedster from Jacksonville, Fla., will move from wide receiver to cornerback this spring.

The Scout.com ranking of Midwest football recruits for 2008 lists quarterback Moses Alipate of Bloomington Jefferson, who has committed to Minnesota, 23rd, wide receiver Bryce McNeal of Breck 37th, wide receiver Fritz Rock of Wayzata 59th, tight end Rasheed Hageman of Washburn 76th and offensive tackle Josh Campion of Fergus Falls, who has commited to Minnesota, 95th.

Normally we don't mention birthdays in this column. But Pinky McNamara, who is celebrating his 75th birthday Sunday, is something special. I can't recall a single other former Gophers athlete who has contributed more to his alma mater than Pinky. His contribution to the building of the McNamara Center is one of many.

Even though the Gophers didn't repeat as Big Ten wrestling champions, losing to Iowa, they are second nationally behind the Hawkeyes in two rankings -- USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Pre-NCAA Coaches Poll and W.I.N. Magazine's most recent Tournament Index poll. The Gophers begin defense of their NCAA wrestling title in St. Louis starting Thursday.

Former Gophers basketball coach Dan Monson took over this season at Long Beach State, a program where all of the experienced players had graduated following last year's NCAA tournament appearance. As a result, the 49ers went 6-25 this season, losing to California-Irvine 77-63 on Wednesday night in the Big West Conference tournament, which they won last season. Long Beach State was eighth in the Big West with a 3-13 record and ended the season on an eight-game losing streak. ... Jim Molinari, who took over as Gophers coach after Monson accepted a buyout seven games into the 2006-07 season, was an assistant coach this year at Ball State, which saw its season end Wednesday with a 59-55 loss to Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference tournament. The Cardinals, under first-year coach Billy Taylor, finished 6-24, going 5-11 in the MAC.

Matt Nohelty, a first-team All-Big Ten pick last year, is off to another great start with the Gophers baseball team. After hitting .500 last weekend in three games, the junior outfielder from Rothschild, Wis., was named Big Ten player of the week. He is hitting .425 with 10 RBI, both team highs. The Gophers (4-5) play three games at Pacific this weekend in Stockton, Calif.

Dan O'Brien, the new Gophers director of football operations and high school relations, did a great job as Hamline athletic director, with the number of student athletes competing in postseason jumping from one to 121 from the time he started in 2002 to now. It's interesting that O'Brien, who played football at Normandale Junior College before graduating from St. Thomas, was coached in football by current Gophers assistant baseball coach Rob Fornasiere, who was an assistant football coach at Normandale at the time. ... Former Gopher Barry Wohler, who left the men's basketball job at Hamline to coach high school at Orono, won a conference championship in his second year at Orono.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on his Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com-