Read my full game story on Minnesota's 84-69 win here.
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Three quick observations before I make the drive back to Raleigh:
*The shooting was dazzling ...but should we get used to it? I didn't expect this team to be a three-point shooting team. Coach Richard Pitino didn't either. Minnesota hit 12 three-pointers on Tuesday -- a huge part of the Gophers' victory over Wake Forest. Seven of those came from Andre Hollins, who was obviously supurb. Four of them came from Joey King. And in general, the Gophers have shot pretty well in wins. But that kind of hot performance from beyond the perimeter might not be entirely realistic. "I don't know if that's going to be our identity," Pitino said.
*Carlos Morris has the potential to be very good defensively. Sneakily long arms. Quick feet. "Slithery," as Pitino likes to say. Tonight, the JUCO transfer had eight steals, one short of a Minnesota record, and it wasn't hard to imagine him making that focus a habit. "That's got to be his role," Pitino said.
*Fouls are still a problem. In the first, Minnesota fouled just five times. By the end of the game, the Gophers were up to 22 and Pitino was forced to throw out all sorts of lineups with five players ultimately collecting three or more. Wake Forest hit just 58.1 percent (18 of 31) of its free throws. Had the Demon Deacons hit more, the game could have taken on a different tone.
