Gophers are on bubble -- for NIT

INDIANAPOLIS - In his first three years with the Gophers, basketball coach Tubby Smith enjoyed bulletproof job security. He turned an embarrassing program into an NCAA tournament team, and fans clamored for him to stay when rumors suggested he'd leave.

But as his fourth year is drawing to a disappointing close -- the Gophers (17-14) suffered a 75-65 loss to Northwestern (18-12) in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday -- Smith said he hoped the university would continue to discuss a contract extension with him.

His agent, Ricky Lefft, said Sunday that he'd been negotiating a new deal with the school on Smith's behalf and expected him to sign an extension before the start of next season.

"You bite the bullet now and say, 'Hey, let's get better in the offseason, improve,'" Smith said. "I'm looking forward to being at the U for some time, and hopefully this season or this stretch of bad, of losses, doesn't cause them to pull anything off the table," he said.

For the third year in a row, the Gophers will await word of their postseason fate on Selection Sunday.

And if they're lucky, the NIT selection committee will pick them.

They'll probably earn a bid to the other postseason tournament because it needs as many high-major programs as possible to draw respectable TV ratings. But six consecutive losses, 10 defeats in their past 11 games and a 6-12 Big Ten record all hurt the Gophers' résumé.

"I'd think that they were crazy. I would say they were crazy," Smith said he would've responded had someone predicted his team would finish so poorly.

The Gophers' season started with talk of a possible Sweet 16 run.

In between their Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship and their late losing skid, however, they suffered injuries, Devoe Joseph transferred and they made the mistakes mediocre teams rarely overcome.

Last year, Conseco Fieldhouse served as the site of the Minnesota Miracle. The Gophers, after finishing the regular season with a 6-8 record in their final 14 games, rallied to the conference tournament title game against Ohio State by defeating Penn State, eventual Final Four participant Michigan State and nationally ranked Purdue.

The Gophers broke a couch during a raucous celebration in one of the arena's meeting rooms after learning they'd earned an NCAA tournament berth.

After Thursday's loss, senior Blake Hoffarber sat in a corner of the locker room with his head down. He was exhausted, not just from his team's most recent failure, but from an undoing that's lasted for more than a month.

"It's a big difference," said Hoffarber, who went 4-for-14 and scored 13 points. "Last year, we had to do some damage in the Big Ten tournament. We did it. It feels like we just got here."

Michael (Juice) Thompson torched the Gophers for 35 points, a Big Ten tournament record.

The Wildcats took 31 threes, tying another tournament record, and hit nine of them. The Gophers were bigger inside, but the Wildcats, who outscored their opponents 24-18 in the paint, were better.

Midway through the second half, the Gophers played inspired basketball. They went ahead 44-42 on a dunk by Trevor Mbakwe (a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds) with 12 minutes, 54 seconds to play. But an 8-0 Northwestern run after that zapped the Gophers' spirits.

By the final buzzer, they'd endured Smith's first Big Ten tournament opening-round loss and the program's worst first-round defeat since 2003.

"This probably has been the worst year since I've been here," said senior point guard Al Nolen, who didn't play and said he won't return even if his team makes a postseason run.

Now the Gophers have to turn the NIT into their NCAA tournament. They've lost supporters during their slide.

The last time they played in the NIT, during Smith's first season in 2008, a few thousand fans were in the Williams Arena stands. Their Thursday loss to the Wildcats probably means they won't host a game this year.

Even worse -- they might not be good enough to earn an invitation.

"I'll be thrilled if we get into the NIT," Hoffarber said. "I want to keep playing basketball in college. And I don't want to go out like this."