Gophers basketball in search of solutions for late-game woes

Jordan Murphy missed a chance to tie the Gophers men's basketball team's game against Maryland last Saturday when he failed to convert a three-point play from the free-throw line with just over a minute left in an 85-78 loss.

So the sophomore captain wanted to redeem himself.

Getting the ball at the top of the key with seconds winding down, Murphy tried to drive around Terrapins center Damonte Dodd for a layup, but he dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds.

Murphy's turnover and other Gophers mistakes late in games are "sucking the life out of everybody," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said Monday on his radio show.

"If you want to be a good team, you can't do that," Pitino added.

A plethora of missed late-game opportunities and close losses continues to be a disturbing trend.

Five of the Gophers' six Big Ten losses this season have been by single digits. Opponents have owned crunch time during the team's current five-game losing streak.

"It doesn't matter what you do the rest of the game," senior captain Akeem Springs said. "If you don't make the plays down the stretch, you don't win."

In the past three seasons, the Gophers are 11-21 in games decided by six points or fewer; they are 4-4 this season, but only 1-4 in the Big Ten. As a comparison, co-Big Ten leader Maryland is 28-6 in contests decided by six points or fewer the past three seasons, including eight victories (3-1 in the Big Ten) this season.

"There have been, throughout the course of the game, three, four, five inexplicable things that you just can't do," Pitino said. "So if you can cut those in half, you're still going to be close and hopefully you'll push through."

Pitino's Gophers teams are 3-47 when trailing with five minutes left in the game, including 1-4 this season. As bad as last season's 8-23 record was, Pitino's silver lining was how close his team was to beating several quality opponents. But it became a broken record, going 0-21 when trailing with five minutes left.

Similar issues have been surfacing this season in Big Ten play.

Minnesota frontcourt starters Murphy (1-for-1) and Reggie Lynch (0-for-1) took only two shots combined in the last five minutes of those five close losses. Murphy has struggled in Big Ten play, so he usually is not looked to for scoring late. Lynch wasn't a factor after fouling out in home losses against Maryland (with 3:10 left), Wisconsin (22 seconds left in regulation) and Michigan State (4:41 left).

The Gophers obviously need Lynch on the floor to provide a defensive and offensive inside presence. They also have yet to find a go-to guy.

Coffey and Mason missed shots at the end of regulation and overtime in the 75-74 Michigan State loss Dec. 27. Mason missed a three-point heave with two seconds left in the 52-50 loss Jan. 14 at Penn State. Springs tied the score late in regulation against Wisconsin with a three-pointer, but he missed another shot from beyond the arc at the buzzer in a 78-76 overtime loss against the Badgers on Jan. 21.

The only time Pitino claims to be unhappy with the execution of a play to finish the game was at Penn State, when Mason threw up a bad shot from three trying to draw a foul with time still on the clock.

"I didn't tell him to do that," Pitino said. "That was the only game where I didn't like the way the game ended. The rest of them I think we got good looks."

Springs is averaging 18 points since he was put in the starting lineup three games ago. He had 14 of his season-high 23 points in the second half against Maryland. But he went scoreless in the last 5:56.

Surprisingly, Springs went several minutes without shooting until a 25-foot three-point attempt with his team down 83-78 with 17 seconds left.

"I don't know," Pitino said about why the Gophers didn't get Springs shots in the last five minutes. "He shot 15 shots. That's a pretty good number. I just think it came down to the last minute and a half more than anything."

But what will the Gophers do when they find themselves in that situation again?

They had a players-only meeting this week to address it.