Reusse: The traffic to Williams Arena is lousy, and so is the level of Gophers competition inside it

The various agencies involved in transforming University Avenue from Interstate 35W to Oak Street in Minneapolis appeared on Saturday morning to have completed construction. It was a months-long project through the core of the U campus and, presumably, the planners’ goal has been achieved.

That goal would be the reduction of vehicle lanes from three to two headed to Williams Arena, thus turning the traffic jams for popular events at the mighty old Barn from tedious to epic.

This was not a problem for Game 2 of Niko Medved’s coaching tenure with the Gophers men’s basketball team, since game time was 11 a.m. and the opponents were the Alcorn State Braves. This historically Black college is located in Lorman, a town of 2,300 in southeast Mississippi — where, one suspects, the city and college leaders do not spend heavily to worsen traffic jams.

To make its Division I ends meet, Alcorn State is playing its entire 12-game nonconference schedule on the road — “transfer the funds, we’ll be there” games at Minnesota, Maryland, LSU, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Baylor and Ole Miss.

Alcorn is getting between $75,000 and $100,000 per game for this collection of guaranteed losses. And the home opener for new coach Jake Morton: That will be a conference game vs. Texas Southern on Jan. 17.

On the night previous, coach Dawn Plitzuweit had contributed to the weekend’s basketball excitement at Williams by helping to choose Manhattan as the second nonconference opponent in her third Gophers season.

The Jaspers fought mightily in the first quarter and trailed only 17-10, and then things took a bad turn for the visitors. Final: Gophers 99, Manhattan 36.

The Gophers defense was chest-up on Alcorn from the get-go. The Braves weren’t shooting; they were throwing the ball in the general direction of the basket.

The first mandatory timeout came at 15:15 and the Gophers had a 14-0 shutout going. Alcorn didn’t score until a couple of free throws by Shane Alexander at 13:02.

When it was 24-4 with nine minutes left, there was a possession in which Alcorn committed muggery on three Gophers shot attempts.

Then, a quick whistle was called on the Gophers defense at the other end. When Medved made a low-key inquiry as to what was going on … well, I’m no lip reader, but the guess was the nearest ref said, “Have you seen the score, coach?”

It was 30-4 at one point, before Davian Williams went on a run and sent Alcorn flying into double figures with 5½ minutes left in the half.

Yet, in Dawn’s defense, she does have a real opponent, Marquette, coming to the Barn on Tuesday. That’s a contrast to last season, when her Gophers had an all-time weak nonconference schedule.

Back to Niko’s lads: When they opened with an 87-60 victory over Gardner-Webb on Monday, one of the puzzles was zero points from Chansey Willis Jr., a coveted transfer from Western Michigan. He’s a point guard type but went 0-for-7 from the field.

What was that?

Don’t worry, Chansey can score, said staff members.

To prove it, Willis ended his scoreless season 84 seconds into Game 2 with a three, then had a steal and a layup, followed by another drive for a layup — all in the first few minutes.

In fact, when it was 30-4, I had this thought:

Isn’t it unfortunate the Alcorn men’s basketball team and the Northwestern State Demons football team (Gophers, 66-0) can’t play a hybrid game — maybe throwing a football in a basket, with contact allowed?

(Note: It has been confirmed that Medved did not crowd-surf across his players after Saturday’s decisive victory.)

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A couple of hours later, there was another event at the big arena: A visit to Maturi Pavilion by Nebraska, the No. 1-rated, unbeaten volleyball machine.

But Andi Jackson or Harper Murray? Duck when they’re winding up.

The set scores were 25-15, 25-21, 25-20. Nebraska is 24-0, with 15 consecutive sweeps (and a horrifying 46 straight set wins).