Read my game story here. It will be updated again before the final goes into the paper tonight.
Andre Hollins shook his head, the trademark grin wiped from his face, his expression saying he knew what the questions would be before they had been asked.
At this point, the issues are nothing new: the inconsistency, the lack of leadership, the dropping status in the polls/seeding/eyes of the public/NCAA selection committee/fill-in-the-blank.
The overall postgame reaction, win or lose – because they've flip-flopped so incredibly dramatically – seems to almost always be the same.
What happened?
The reasons, lately, have changed. It's no longer turnovers that are the Gophers' biggest foe; it's been poor shooting. Today, they picked that up in the second half, making 42.9 percent from 3-point range, but their defense was atrocious (Purdue made 54.2 percent of its shots from the field and all five starters finished with points in double digits).
The one constant is that the Gophers struggle to put it all together and they struggle to consistently find a player who will play the role of the leader. Even when they find one, coach Tubby Smith seemingly doesn't treat that person like a leader. He won't call plays designed for that person, trust them under pressure or give them any leeway to overcome a slow stretch.
Trevor Mbakwe has been that force recently, but when he got two fouls in the first five minutes of Saturday's loss to Purdue, he was benched until halftime, able only to watch as the Gophers' deficit ballooned from five points to 21.
![Seen from the 40th Street pedestrian bridge, a motorcylcist is sihlouetted beneath the 42nd Street Bridge while traveling north along I-35W, Friday, June 6, 2014, just south of downtown Minneapolis, MN.] (DAVIDJOLES/STARTRIBUNE) djoles@startribune.com A surge in deaths and injuries among motorcycle riders in Minnesota, coming just as summer-like weather takes hold, is prompting traffic officials to remind drivers across the vehicle spectrum of what they need to do to safely share the roads and h](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/TWBPBY5GLJVBID2FJZC75KKF4U.jpg?&w=80&ar=1:1&fit=crop)
![Minnesota Gophers head coach PJ Fleck leads the team onto the field before the start of a football game between the University of Minnesota Gophers and the Maryland Terrapins Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. ] AARON LAVINSKY • aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/DGYCWUGVL456KXPGEVYYVEJRAY.jpg?&w=252&ar=3:2&fit=crop)
