Much-improved Gophers stomp Western Kentucky

One game before, Gophers guard DeAndre Mathieu had been sitting on the bench, unwittingly watching a clinic.

Louisville's Chris Jones and Terry Rozier — a pair of undersized, speedy guards that drove the Cardinals' intensity — were running the Gophers out of the game with their defensive pressure.

Later, both Gophers coach Richard Pitino and his dad, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, pulled aside Mathieu, who was on the bench for much of the first half because of foul trouble.

That could be him, they told him. He had their ability.

"You need to be a 5-foot-9 gnat," the younger Pitino said. The way to get noticed was through steals. Deflections. Pressure.

Tuesday, against a team expected to be the Gophers' fourth-best nonconference opponent, it appeared the senior point guard had taken that message to heart. Mathieu, in his best all-around game since arriving at Minnesota last year, set the tone early in a notable 76-54 bounce-back win over Western Kentucky.

Behind Mathieu's stat-stuffing performance — the senior finished with 11 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals with just one turnover — the Gophers forced 25 turnovers by the Hilltoppers while committing just 11 themselves, including only three in the first half.

"This is the way we want to play," a satisfied Pitino said afterward. "That was probably our best defensive performance since I've been here."

If the Gophers wanted to quickly turn the page from a sloppy 81-68 loss in paradise, this game certainly started the process. Minnesota led 46-28 at the half and didn't slow down much from there.

The controlled, efficient outing was a positive turn for a squad that ranked 11th in the Big Ten in offensive turnover percentage last season and — in coach Richard Pitino's first year at the helm — sat last in the league in defensive efficiency.

A big part of that was Mathieu, whose success and failures have been an indicator of the team's overall performance in the past. Freshman Nate Mason already can sense that trend repeating.

"We go when he goes," he said. "He set the tone and made everybody else play better."

Mathieu, who had four turnovers and four personal fouls to go along with just six points against Louisville, led a full-court, high-pressure defense that had Western Kentucky out of sorts from the start and kick-started a versatile offense that hit six three-pointers and scored 36 points in the paint.

On the other end, the Gophers clung to the Hilltoppers like a fitted sheet as they came down the court. There were traveling calls. Steals. Bad passes. Forced shots.

"He was a spark plug for us," forward Joey King said of Mathieu. "When he brings it, it's pretty difficult for other teams to get their offense going."

The Knoxville guard is historically hard on himself after losses and bad games, and last week was no different.

Each time, he repeats the mantra that in his mind already means he's failed: Don't have two bad games in a row.

But this time, he had another motivator as well.

He had watched the Gophers' offense stutter against the pressure of Louisville's aggressive guards. The Gophers didn't run many sets. The elder Pitino told him he had the chance to play at the next level if he only played like that.

Tuesday, Mathieu exercised his new lesson against Western Kentucky.

"I just really took that personal," he said. "I really tried to turn it up, stay under guys, pressure guys, force them to speed up their game.

"And it worked out tonight."