Read my full story on the 77-74 3OT loss at Purdue here. (The final will be posted as it is edited.)
Now the road gets tougher.
The Gophers didn't play poorly on Wednesday -- at least not in most regards.
Andre Hollins was back, and encouraging. Several players had really strong games, among them Mo Walker (who is only getting better and better at playing with his back to the basket, in front of our eyes), Austin Hollins (I think the slump is over) and Joey King (that was the aggressiveness Minnesota needed).
But Minnesota didn't do the small things it needed to pull out the win. One small thing in particular, actually, which grew to be a massive thing:
Offensive rebounds.
Purdue got as many as it wanted, it seemed like. The Boilermakers collected 23 in all, and turned them into 23 second-chance points.
It was enough to get the edge on the Gophers, and even overcome a shockingly bad 9-for-23 performance from the line (I mean, I've seen bad. But wow).