The Gophers came into tonight – one of their toughest games this season -- with no star, no backup star, no senior on the court, and a national audience ready to write the story about a major loss before the opening tipoff. But instead of succumbing to all that, the Gophers came out with a new look and a new intensity and pushed past Virginia Tech, 58-55 in the ACC Challenge on Wednesday night. Some notes from the huge emotional win:
- Rodney Williams looked pretty good from the 4-spot, in his first start there all year. He scored 14 points and added a season-high eight rebounds.
- Julian Welch was clutch in his first start of the year. The junior led the team in scoring with 15 points and sunk the final four shots – all free throws – of the game.
- Elliott Eliason is without a doubt the most improved player on this roster. He was the beast he needed to be tonight, scoring eight points and adding seven rebounds.
- The Gophers biggest weakness remains guarding the three. Virginia Tech stayed close by taking uncontested shots from the outside late in the game on Wednesday.
- The second-half push remains consistent with this team. The Gophers shot 65 percent from the first in the second half after making 39.3 percent of their shots in the first.
- Erick Green was stellar for the Hokies and got off four three pointers, but the Gophers did a good job of shutting down Dorenzo Hudson, who was averaging over 14 points a game. He finished with none Wednesday and had three assists.
