University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers' Season Ends With NIT Loss to Maryland
3/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Damian Johnson’s first career double-double wasn’t enough to lift Minnesota past a scrappy Maryland squad during the opening round of the MasterCard NIT Tuesday night at Williams Arena as the Golden Gophers’ 2007-08 campaign ended with a 68-58 loss to the Terrapins.
Johnson finished with 14 points and led all rebounders with 12 to pace Minnesota (20-14) in both categories. The Gophers also got 11 points from Blake Hoffarber, Lawrence Westbrook and Jamal Abu-Shamala.
Seniors Spencer Tollackson, Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie combined to score just six points in their final game in a Gopher uniform, with Tollackson scoring all six.
Coleman was unable to dent the scoreboard before fouling out with 3:42 to play, while McKenzie was limited to just three minutes of playing time because of an injury.
Greivis Vasquez poured in 16 points to lead Maryland (19-14), which also got 14 points from Bambale Osby and 11 from James Gist.
Minnesota trailed by just one at intermission, but Maryland opened the second half with a 12-2 run to take a 45-34 lead.
The Terps, who outrebounded the Gophers 47-38 despite Johnson’s dozen boards, generally controlled the paint throughout the game and continually attacked the glass. Maryland did most of its damage during it game-turning spurt on inside, getting a layup and a dunk from Gist, a layup and a putback from Osby and a layup by Adrian Bowie during the surge.
The Terps also got two free throws from Osby, which seemed to be one of the key themes of the game as Maryland would end up taking 31 foul shots to just nine by the Gophers before it was all said and done.
Minnesota battled back the only way it could... from downtown.
Abu-Shamala, who connected in three long-range bombs, hit two as the Gophers score 12 of the game's next 18 points to cut Maryland’s lead to 51-46.
But that’s as close as the Gophers would get. Maryland went back inside to Osby, who scored six of the Terrapins’ next eight points.
A 3-pointer by Gist, one of just three for the game by the Terrapins, pushed Maryland’s lead to nine points at 62-53 with 2:38 to go.
Hoffarber answered with a triple of his own, but the Gophers would score just two more points the rest of the way. A dunk by Osby and two free throws by Gist provided the final margin.
Tough shooting plagued both squad during a ragged first half that saw the two teams shoot just 22-for-65 (34 percent) from the floor and combine for 17 turnovers.
The Gophers also endured their fair share of foul trouble during the opening 20 minutes. Minnesota was whistled for 11 fouls, sending the Terrapins to the free-throw line 16 times.
Maryland converted 12 and that helped keep the Terps in the game.
Minnesota connected on four 3-pointers in the opening six minutes of the game and led 18-12 after Tollackson sank a pair of free throws with 12:18 to play in the period.
The Terrapins began chipping away at the Gophers’ lead on the very next possession and used a 7-2 run to make it a 1-point game.
Johnson score eight of Minnesota’s next 10 points to help the Gophers stay on top, including a thunderous stick-back dunk that brought the crowd to its feet with 6:38 remaining in the half.
But Maryland kept plugging away. A putback by Cliff Tucker and a layup by Jerome Burney in the final minute of the half gave the Terps their first lead of the game since the early going.
A short jumper in the lane by Johnson with 24 seconds to go were the final points of the half and made it a 1-point game at intermission.
