Gophers postgame: Minnesota's final Big Ten game of the year embodies their season

In some ways, the Gophers' 51-49 loss to Illinois just made sense.

It had a little bit of everything that has both elated and frustrated Minnesota fans this season:

There were stretches of lethargic play, followed by inspired performances. There were turnovers in bunches, followed by a clutch shot to bring hope.

The Jekyll-and-Hyde personalities of the team showed both of their faces. And in the end, Minnesota was done in by the same things that have plagued it all year: sluggish stretches, costly mistakes and, well, questionable decisions.

The Gophers had every chance to seal a win when they led by three with 2:55 remaining. Illinois – which shot a stunning 32.1 percent from the field overall – was having a tough time finding a bucket.

But Minnesota, after plowing back from a 12-point deficit (that first half was all "Hyde"), suddenly didn't have the drive to shut the Illini down. When Brandon Paul snagged the rebound off Trevor Mbakwe's missed jumper, Illinois shuffled through attempt after attempt, grabbing four offensive rebounds –FOUR! – before DJ Richardson finally connected with the 3-pointer that tied the game up, and set the stage for Brandon Paul's last-second heroics.

Still, the Gophers had a shot to recover, getting the ball with 48 seconds remaining. But unable to get a play together, Tubb Smith called two time outs, and after the last, the inbounds play was muffed when Andre Hollins couldn't get open and Austin Hollins, barreling toward the sideline, grabbed the ball and stepped out of bounds, turning the ball over.

With that, the Gophers' second-half improvements – going from shooting 27.3 percent from the field in the first half to 55.6 percent in the second – were quickly forgotten. And now, Minnesota heads into Selection Sunday with three consecutive losses (two of them with the adjective "bad" firmly attached) and a less-than-overwhelming argument for the way they finished the season.

In my opinion, the Gophers are still safe: their cache of "good wins," RPI and strength of schedule is just too good to pass up, especially considering some of the teams that are on the bubble.

But Smith said after the game that he feels less certain:

"We'll be wondering and hoping," he said. "We have a good resume. We haven't played well of late, but when you look at the entire body of work, I think we have done enough. But it's not up to us. It will be interesting to me. It will be a sweat it out type of thing."

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