Worthy effort? It should have been a win

The officiating crew of Mike Roberts, Steve Olson and Jaime Luckie took Indiana freshman Eric Gordon out of the game with three fouls in nine minutes of the first half. Two of these fouls were beyond absurd and basically ruined the Hoosiers star for the entire evening.

Indiana committed 26 turnovers and much of this was due to the Gophers' pressure defense. Another share of those throwaways -- 10, minimum -- was due to nothing more than the Hoosiers' carelessness.

The turnover total also was inflated by the fact that A.J. Ratliff, Indiana's veteran point guard, was sick with a 101-degree fever and played only four minutes.

Armon Bassett, the sophomore who started at point guard, was so awful that a guy watching on ESPN (hooray -- the Gophers on cable!) found himself asking, "What is this poor kid doing on the floor?"

Now we know. Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson didn't have a choice.

Indiana's attempt to hand the Gophers a victory included a long stretch in the second half when it was getting open threes and banging them off the rim.

The Hoosiers went 2-for-10 on threes in the second half. They also went from 12:01 remaining to 4:09 stuck on 52 points.

The game ended on time for full recaps on the four local newscasts. It was described by a couple of TV's finest as a "great game" and the general theme was this was somehow a triumph for the indomitable spirit of these Gophers.

Ex-squeeze me?

Indiana was a one-point favorite entering this game. Indiana made two of its final 13 shots and still came from down 56-52 with under five minutes remaining to win by five.

The celebratory reaction to this Gophers basketball game might be the most embarrassing we've had since Clem Haskins cried when he beat North Dakota State 70-53 on Nov. 29, 1986. That was Clem's first game as Gophers coach, but tears for beating the Bison?

Unacceptable.

There was much energy spent pointing to missed free throws as the lone reason for this defeat. The Gophers went 11-for-21, including 0-for-7 from Spencer Tollackson.

Five days earlier, the Gophers gained a 76-73 victory at Penn State and this was a triumph for our lads' courage, defense and pair of precocious freshmen. Apparently, Penn State missing 13 of 21 free throws in the second half, including nine of its final 10, had nothing to do with the outcome.

Granted, Tubby Smith is a great improvement on Dan Monson, but the fact we're happy to have him doesn't mean we should drop all standards for victory.

If Monson was coaching, Indiana had played this miserably and the Gophers lost, we would've been on him like George W. on Iran.

But this was Tubby, so we didn't wonder why he had Al Nolen Jr., an open-court not a half-court player, trying to make a play off the dribble after a timeout with 1:05 left. Nolen dribbled to no effect, then fired a no-chance shot to beat the shot clock.

Today, Smith's team gets a chance to atone -- yes, atone -- for failing to unwrap Thursday's gift.

Right now, the Gophers are 12-4, and the RPI ratings for the victims start with Santa Clara (119), Iowa State (127), Penn State (141) and on into oblivion.

Meantime, as we wait hopefully for Tubby to produce his first meaningful victory this afternoon against Michigan State, here's one last footnote on the Indiana abomination:

Monson was 5-1 against the Hoosiers in The Barn.