Read my game story on the 71-61 win over Florida State here.
Hey, maybe size doesn't matter after all.
The Gophers, at least, proved capable of overcoming a lack of it for one night -- going up against the much bigger Florida State and stifling the Seminoles defensively, coming out with a 71-61 victory.
After a tough three games in three days in Maui, coming back with a win over the hearty Seminoles on Tuesday was huge for the Gophers. Minnesota returned to Williams Arena in a strong way, capturing by far their biggest win of the season over a team that beat VCU and lost to No. 22 Michigan and No. 15 Florida by a combined three points.
"We knew coming in that this was going to be a big win for us," DeAndre Mathieu said. "We watch ESPN, we see them play and everybody talking about how good they are, how big they are so it's a big win. Our first big win. We let Syracuse get off. It just feels good to get a quality win over a good team."
Mathieu's toughness at the end of the game was a big part of the Gophers pulling out what turned out to be a close game at the end after Minnesota's early second half 12-point lead shriveled away. With 1:48 to go the tiny guard landed a layup in heavy traffic and amongst the Seminoles bigs to stretch the Gophers' lead to six and push them to the finish line.
In a game that wasn't always pretty -- with 52 fouls called on the two teams combined and the contest drawing out to nearly 2.5 hours -- the Gophers took care of business. They overcame a lax shooting night (34 percent from the field) with stout defense, speeding up the Seminoles and forcing Florida State into 17 turnovers with their press while containing 7-footers Boris Bojanovsky and Michael Ojo inside.
The Gophers were out-rebounded 36-32, a differential that's not too shabby considering Minnesota was smaller at almost every position.
