Clock is ticking for Gophers men’s basketball to get season turned around

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Bright green numbers on a new digital clock tick down inside the Gophers men’s basketball team’s practice facility at Athletes Village.

Head coach Ben Johnson set it up to enhance his team’s focus after losing four of its last five games and show how time to get out of the rut is fleeting before Minnesota (6-5) plays Fairleigh Dickinson (4-9) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Williams Arena.

“That clock is there as a reminder,” Johnson said Thursday. “We are going to talk good. We are going to have energy. Every practice has been great. And that is important, but I’m more concerned about what it looks like (come tipoff). That is the true test. That has been the challenge the last week and a half.”

Coming off losses to Michigan State on Dec. 4 and Indiana on Dec. 9, Johnson pointed to a sequence in the Hoosiers game when one “half-step” when the game was tied 22-22 can lead to another and a quick first-half deficit that grew insurmountable in a 82-67 loss.

“I think we play hard in glimpses, but we don’t play hard long enough,” Johnson said. “We pointed it out over and over that when we do play hard and get to our scheme on offense and defense that good things happen. When we don’t, there is a big gap between our success and failure.”

Through the first third of the season, the Gophers have two nonconference games — including Morgan State on Dec. 29 — before a return to Big Ten play in January.

“Coach has really challenged us and pushed us,” senior forward Parker Fox said. “I think we have done a really good job of accepting that challenge and pushing forward and realizing that this is something that is fixable. We believe we have enough in this locker room to do what we want to do.”

Johnson said the clock will likely remain ticking through the rest of the season.

Update on Cochran

When Toledo transfer guard Tyler Cochran had foot surgery in early October, the initial prognosis was for him to return to the Gophers in December. But time is running out…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/clock-ticking-gophers-men-basketball-174600752.html

Author : Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Publish date : 2024-12-20 17:46:00

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