Trying to keep Louisville in perspective

Saturday's win over No. 9 Louisville was impressive, but the team knows it must move forward now.

By MYRON P. MEDCALF, Star Tribune

Last update: December 22, 2008 - 2:13 PM

Only two years ago, the Gophers men's basketball team was in shambles.

Coach Dan Monson was fired after seven games and five consecutive losses, and the Gophers hobbled to a 9-22 finish during the 2006-07 season.

Flash forward to Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. As Gophers coach Tubby Smith discussed his team's 70-64 signature victory over No. 9 Louisville at the postgame news conference, the man who hired him to restore the program stood in the back of the room, reflecting on the magnitude of the program's progress.

The Gophers have joined the 1976-77 Gophers, which featured Kevin McHale, Ray Williams, Mychal Thompson, Osborne Lockhart and Flip Saunders, as the first team to start 10-0 since they did it more than 30 years ago.

"It's why you make changes obviously," athletic director Joel Maturi said. "There's lots of things that are really good. I think the exciting part about it is we have a young basketball team. Our future is really positive. We've signed some kids in November, which will even help make this team even better in the long term. I think Tubby wasn't sure what he wasn't getting into. And I think he's starting to say, 'You know what, I'm enjoying this journey.' "

Smith downplayed the victory to a degree, perhaps for fear of inflating the collective ego of his young team. He compared it to last season's home victory over Ohio State on senior night, before calling Saturday's upset of the Cardinals and his predecessor at Kentucky, Rick Pitino, "the biggest win this year."

The team's top scorer, Lawrence Westbrook, struggled Saturday, with the Arizona native scoring two points with four turnovers and four fouls.

But Al Nolen's poise and career-high 18 points were key to the Gophers' victory. The sophomore guard from Minneapolis Henry said the team is excited but doesn't want to make too much of it, only a week and a half from its Big Ten opener against Michigan State on New Year's Eve.

"This game really means a lot to us, but it's one game," he said. "We still have to move forward and look forward to the next game."

As much as Smith and his players didn't want to hype the significance of Saturday's victory, they won't be able to stop the hype that's sure to follow. Later today, there's a good chance the Gophers will crack the top 25 polls for the first time since December 2002.

And with only Southeastern Louisiana and Smith's alma mater, High Point, remaining on the nonconference schedule, the Gophers are expected to enter their Big Ten schedule with an unblemished résumé.

Entering this season, few knew what to expect. The Gophers lost their top three scorers from last season and knew they would have to rely on veterans such as Damian Johnson and Travis Busch, who previously played smaller roles, a young point guard in Nolen and freshmen Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson.

The Gophers beat a top-10 opponent for the first time since defeating No. 9 Indiana 77-75 on Feb. 9, 2000. Their domination of Louisville -- the Cardinals never led after scoring the game's opening basket -- made Pitino tell reporters after the game that he couldn't take any positives from the matchup.

Maturi, who fielded numerous calls from the school's president, Robert Bruininks, during Saturday's game, said the victory will mean little in the coming days. Still, he said, the rest of the country likely will take notice of a game that started as a measuring stick and became a pillar of hope for the program.

"I think the kids wondered and everybody else wondered how good we were going to be," he said. "Our schedule hasn't been the toughest. We've handled every challenge we've had until this point. Now we've played a top-10 team at a neutral site, and we've won the game. I think we probably raised a few eyebrows."

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