Gophers postgame: Minnesota holds on vs. Georgia, but plenty to clean up

Read my full game story on Minnesota's win over Georgia here.

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Getting back on track never felt so shaky. Yes, Minnesota ultimately pulled out the 66-62 victory over Georgia, but the Gophers only did so after letting an even bigger lead (16 points at its greatest) crumble away.

Minnesota shot well from three-point range (10-for-22) and forced a lot of turnovers (18) and salvaged a New York trip by claiming the NIT Season Tipoff consolation game over a quality opponent.

But the same bad habits that have plagued the team in the early season were back, with a force, in the second half.

There is more work to be done before Wake Forest on Tuesday.

A few quick observations:

*These free-throw struggles are weird. In each of the six games Minnesota has played this season, the Gophers have failed to knock down 61 percent of their attempts from the stripe. In the last five, they haven't reach 59 percent. Minnesota isn't necessarily a great free-throw shooting team, but this is pretty bad. "If you look ack at last year we missed a lot of free throws at the beginning of the season," Joey King said. "It's probably just some nerves we work out through the first couple of games."

*Avoiding foul trouble is so important now. With Daquein McNeil's absence creating a shorter rotation -- now just four men deep -- the backcourt staying away from dumb fouls becomes even more critical. Charles Buggs is officially the backup small forward and power forward. Andre Hollins is backing up the point guard and small forward spots. Mason has to back up point guard and shooting guard. Unfortunately for Minnesota, DeAndre Mathieu is too small to play anywhere but at floor general. If one or two guys gets into foul trouble, suddenly walk-on Kendall Shell becomes a critical piece of the backcourt. There is potential for things to get ugly.