'BO' YAAAA! Gophs dispatch Badgers at the Barn!

Hey? Wha' Happened Bo?  Whining and grimacing won't work every night.  The spring is back in my step tonight.  Just wanted to share my elation from the 16 point takedown of the Badgers.  And here's a fun pic of Bo doing his best impersonation of Fred Willard's "Mike LaFontaine" character from the underrated 'A Mighty Wind'... (hence the opening line of this post).  I imagine this must have been what he did for a halftime speech, seeing as the Badgers made virtually no adjustments in the 2nd half.

It was nice to see Bo Ryan get outcoached by Tubby down the stretch (again).  The zone defense the Gophs dropped into forced the Badgers to chuck 3's all 2nd half, and they weren't falling.  The Gophers beat the Badgers at their own game, surprisingly beating them in a slow down match, with long possessions frequently ending in quality buckets.  I would have expected the Gophs to go uptempo as we have in wins against Wisconsin in the past, but Tubby went with his bigs and a reduced bench rotation.  Maybe this vexed the Badgers because they scouted them to go uptempo.  Maybe not.  Either way, I'm pleased with the results.

The fans were loud, if not a little tasteless (with the 'F*ck Bo Ryan' chant). But hey, what do you expect when he's making incredulous scowls and shouting at refs for calls on the opposite end of the court, with a student section desperate to do anything to help give the Gophs an advantage.  Steve Lavin did his usual Badger ass-kissing all game, which he transparently tries to balance with his love of Williams Arena.  And Larry Westbrook capped it off with a ridiculous and unnecessary dunk attempt with the shot clock winding down and the game all but over.

No time to rest now though, IU coming in on Saturday.  Time for some revenge on them for stealing that game from us in Bloomington.  Verdell Jones needs that smirk wiped off his face. Gotta keep any momentum generated from this game rolling at least until Purdue rolls into town.

In the meantime, celebrate with a classic Goldy spinning of his head (and a Grain Belt Premium or Surly Furious)

GO GOPHERS!