Saturday Final: Gopher Basketball Squeaks Past Cornell To Get Back On Track

After a letdown at the hands of Virginia earlier this week, Gopher basketball head coach Tubby Smith had to regroup his squad to ensure that the team didn't face the same fate on Saturday at the barn.

While the team didn't show the same brilliance that it did in wins against North Carolina and West Virginia during the Puerto Rico tip-off, their performance was just good enough to get a win over Cornell.

After allowing 10 three pointers during Wednesday's game against Virginia, Minnesota's perimeter defense faltered again, allowing 14 to drop from behind the arc against Cornell, four each by guards Andrew Ferry and Chris Wroblewski.

With the second consecutive letdown on the perimeter, the Gophers are anxiously awaiting the return of guard Al Nolen, who missed his second consecutive game with a foot injury.

What the Gophers lacked in perimeter defense, however, they made up for inside the paint. The Gophers big men dominated on the boards, out-rebounding Cornell 45 to 29.

Forward Trevor Mbakwe led the way with an impressive 16 rebounds. Senior Blake Hoffarber contributed 13 points and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes.

The size advantage proved to be extremely important down the stretch as Cornell mounted their comeback. The Gophers aggressive pursuit in the paint allowed them to get to the free throw line 44 times.

Even though they were only able to sink 26 of the shots from the line, it proved to be enough as the mounting fouls would prove to be too much for Cornell to overcome.

A fierce dunk from Ralph Sampson III with just seconds left would seal the game for the Gophers.

The Gophers are off until Wednesday when they will travel to Philadelphia to face the St. Joseph's University Hawks.