University of Minnesota Athletics
Goldy's (March Madness) Mailbag - March 17, 2011
3/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Welcome to this week's Goldy's Mailbag. This is your chance to get your questions answered about anything and everything related to Golden Gopher Athletics! Submit your question for next week's Mailbag!
Have the Gophers ever beaten a team that went on to win the national championship? - Chris, Bemidji, Minn.
Good question! The year was 1989 as the 10th-ranked Michigan Wolverines arrived at the Barn. Michigan entered the game at 18-4, while Minnesota was 13-7 overall. The Golden Gophers had beaten three straight ranked teams at home, including top-ranked Illinois, heading into the game.
The Wolverines trailed the entire game until Glen Rice hit a three-pointer to give the Wolverines a 61-60 lead with 8:07 to play. Willie Burton followed with a three-point play of his own as he was fouled and made the bucket to put the Gophers up by two. Melvin Newbern iced the game with six points during a 9-3 run as Minnesota edged ahead 78-70. Ray Gaffney came off the bench to score 24 point as Minnesota won its 12th straight home game with an 88-80 victory.
The Golden Gophers would advance to the Sweet Sixteen that year, while Michigan, under interim head coach Steve Fisher, beat Illinois in the Final Four and won the national title against Seton Hall.
The Golden Gopher women's basketball team has faced two teams that have gone on to win the national title. During the Final Four run in 2004, the Golden Gophers fell to eventual national champion Connecticut in the national semifinals. In 1999, Minnesota was narrowly defeated by second-ranked Purdue at the Sports Pavilion, 63-61. The Boilermakers led by 13 in the second half before Minnesota fought back to tie the game at 61 with 29 seconds to play. Purdue's Stephanie White-McCarty hit a pair of free throws with three second to play as the Boilermakers escaped with the win to improve to 24-1.
I watched ESPN's documentary on the Fab Five on Sunday. How did the Gophers fare against Michigan during those two years? - Jeff, Newport, Conn.
Well, it started off pretty well. Michigan came to town in early January of 1992 sporting a 9-1 record with its only loss to top-ranked Duke. It would be a reunion of sorts as Minnesota's Voshon Lenard would match up with old friends from Detroit, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber.
As some mentioned in the documentary, they weren't initially thrilled with the "Fab Five" nickname. Steve Fisher told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "We've got Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, and that's how they want to be known. They are, and so am I, tired of hearing them called 'Fab Five.' They're individuals."
It was Minnesota's freshman, Lenard, that was the star of the day. He scored 25 points and added eight rebounds in a 73-64 win over the 11th-ranked Wolverines. Rose matched Lenard with 25 points, but Webber went 4-for-14 from the floor for just nine points. At that point of the season, only Rose and Webber were in the starting five.
The rematch occurred in Ann Arbor in late February and the Wolverines were ready this time. The loss to Minnesota in the previous matchup sent the Wolverines into a minor tailspin with a five losses in their next 12 games. This time around, all five freshmen were in the starting lineup and it paid off with a 95-70 victory. Webber had 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Howard added 16 points.
Michigan would reach the national title game in 1992 as a sixth seed, but fell to Duke which repeated as national champions. Minnesota's season ended with a loss to Washington State in NIT.
The 1992-93 season saw the Fab Five phenomenon hit a fever pitch. Michigan returned to Williams Arena in January with a 13-2 record and number five ranking. Webber played in the game just two days after breaking his nose in practice. A close game at halftime, Michigan hit 17 of 26 shots in the second half to foil Minnesota's upset bid in an 80-73 victory. Rose had 23 points, while Howard added 14.
In the final matchup in February in Ann Arbor, Michigan ended the first half on a 23-6 run and held off a late rally to claim an 84-69 victory. Webber had 26 points and nine rebounds, while Lenard had 25 for the Golden Gophers.
Michigan would reach the title game again, but were defeated by North Carolina. Despite finishing 9-9 in the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers were relegated to the NIT. Minnesota, unable to play at Williams Arena, defeated Florida, Oklahoma and USC at the Target Center and Met Center, and went on to win the NIT at Madison Square Garden against Georgetown.
I was only three at the time...were the Gophers considered Cinderella when they went to the Elite Eight in 1990? - Jake, St. Cloud, Minn.
That might be a yes and no answer. No, because the Golden Gophers reached the Sweet Sixteen in 1989 and returned all five starters. Yes, because the Golden Gophers entered 1990 ranked 20th in the country and were seeded just sixth in the tournament.
Minnesota entered the 1990 NCAA Tournament off a pair of losses to Michigan State and Ohio State. In a first-round matchup against Texas-El Paso, the Golden Gophers needed overtime to escape with a 64-61 victory. The Golden Gophers trailed 47-42 with Willie Burton and Jim Shikenjanski playing with four fouls. Melvin Newbern carried the team down the stretch with 11 points in the final eight minutes. Former Golden Gopher Marlon Maxey led the Miners with 17 points.
Just like 1989, Minnesota benefitted from a first round upset to get a matchup with a double-digit seed. Just like Siena did to Stanford the year before, Northern Iowa knocked off No. 3 Missouri. The Panthers gave a heroic effort, but Burton's 36 points proved too much in an 81-78 victory.
The second consecutive trip to the Sweet Sixteen gave Minnesota a measure of satisfaction. As Kevin Lynch said postgame: "Last year, we got to the Sweet 16 and maybe we were just happy to be there, and we really didn't give Duke our best game. This year, I think we're going in with a little different attitude."
Next was a matchup against national power Syracuse at the Superdome in New Orleans. Filled with confidence, the Golden Gophers took the lead for good at 61-60 on a Lynch three-pointer. Trailing by four at halftime, Minnesota shot a remarkable 79.2 percent (19-for-24) from the field in the final 20 minutes and pulled off an 82-75 victory. Lynch led four Golden Gophers in double figures with 20 points.
That, as we all know, led to an Elite Eight appearance against Georgia Tech. The Golden Gopher run would end in a 93-91 loss to the Yellowjackets as Lynch's last second three-pointer bounced off the rim. What people probably forget about that game was the astounding discrepancy in free throw attempts. Georgia Tech was 27-of-35 from line, while Minnesota attempted just 11 free throws, making five. Burton scored 35 in the game, but Dennis Scott scored a game-high 40 for Georgia Tech.
The loss ended a remarkable turnaround for the program led by the five seniors: Newbern, Coffey, Shikenjanski, Richard Coffey and Connell Lewis. The quintet lost 21 straight Big Ten games as freshmen and sophomores, but finished with a Sweet Sixteen appearance as juniors and an Elite Eight appearance as seniors.
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