Postgame Rundown: Gophers unravel late at Wisconsin

Madison, Wis. - Let's say you're stuck in a New York airport during a blizzard and you don't have Internet access.

And I walk up to you and hand you the stat sheet from Tuesday's Gophers v. Badgers game. But the final score is blacked out.

You'd be convinced that the Gophers had won by double digits.

They outrebounded the Badgers 42-24 (17-4 on the offensive glass) in their 68-60 loss to their rivals. In the paint, they outscored the Badgers 34-12. And they finished the game with a season-low eight turnovers.

And they lost by eight? How?

In the final minutes, the Gophers lost the composure that helped them climb out of a 10-point hole in the second half.

They missed tough shots, took some bad ones and couldn't keep up with the Badgers down the stretch.

The good news is that the Gophers fought for 40 minutes. They didn't execute late but that game could have easily gone the other way. Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson produced. Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber helped the Gophers get back into the game late. Plus, early foul trouble limited Al Nolen's minutes. Might have been a different game for the Gophers defensively if he'd played more.

The Gophers, however, will see a lot of good point guards in Big Ten play. Jordan Taylor did whatever he wanted. Will Kalin Lucas, Demetri McCamey, E'Twaun Moore and Talor Battle do the same thing? They have to find a way to squeeze teams at the point of attack. Taylor had too much freedom.

But the Gophers were also victims of a schedule that wasn't tough enough in December. They hadn't played a tight game against a nationally ranked team since Puerto Rico. It's one thing to make a run against South Dakota State but it's far more challenging to rally against a team like Wisconsin.