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Johnson, defense carry U past Rams for 4-0 start
In his first Gophers game since suffering a broken hand, Damian Johnson set up Paul Carter's decisive basket.
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FORT COLLINS, COLO. — With their outside game struggling and their inside game missing in action, the Gophers men's basketball team discovered Saturday night it can still win with an old reliable: defense.
The Gophers used stifling all-court pressure to force 20 turnovers and got a clutch layup from Paul Carter with 18.9 seconds left to pull out a 72-71 victory over Colorado State before an announced crowd of 5,956 at Moby Arena.
Colorado State had a chance to steal a win when Andre McFarland launched an 18-foot jumper from the left baseline as the final horn sounded. The shot was just short, giving the Gophers their first 4-0 start since the 2002-03 season.
"They got a very good look at the end; somebody blew an assignment," Gophers coach Tubby Smith said. "But this was a good win for us."
His team simply refused to allow Colorado State's significant inside advantage to rule the night. They outrebounded the Rams (2-1) 25-17 in the second half and grabbed 19 offensive boards.
"They were really pounding us inside, but we ran down just about every loose ball," Smith said. "We had to play small but we are quick, and that made a difference."
The Gophers got a huge performance from junior forward Damian Johnson, making his season debut after missing the first three games because of a broken left hand. It was his interior pass to Carter that set up the winning basket, and he added a block on Rams guard Marcus Walker's 15-footer in the final seconds. Johnson finished with six points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
"It was a big lift for us to get him back," Smith said.
The Gophers also got a break when Walker, the Rams' standout senior guard, was injured Friday in an auto-pedestrian accident when he was walking near campus. Walker, who was coming off a 31-point performance Tuesday against Northern Colorado, played with his right (shooting) shoulder in a harness and shot 2-for-11 from the field.
With Walker hurting, the Gophers managed to find just enough offense from their backcourt to win. Blake Hoffarber did the damage in the first half, scoring 17 of his game-high 20 points -- one shy of his career best last year, which also came against Colorado State. In the second half, it was sophomore Al Nolen talking over with 13 of his 16 points.
"We got contributions from a lot of people, which is what you need in a game like this," Smith said. "Al hit some huge baskets for us in the second half. Blake had his shooting eye tonight, and I'm glad he did."
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