Column: Mbakwe’s energy fuels Gophers past Hoosiers

If you had to pick one reason why the No. 1 Indiana men’s basketball team lost 77-73 to Minnesota, you should begin with Trevor Mbawke.

The sixth year senior from St. Paul, Minnesota started the night like a man who wouldn’t be denied.

Mbakwe scored Minnesota’s first six points and 12 out of the Gophers’ first 18 points by starting 5-of-5 from the field in the first ten minutes.

If it wasn’t for hot three-point shooting from Jordan Hulls and a 10-0 run with Mbawke on the bench in the first half, the first half could have gotten away from IU because the Hoosiers couldn’t match Mbakwe’s intensity.

“He was just a beast out there,” Minnesota guard Austin Hollins said. “On the boards, he was unstoppable. In the paint, he was scoring, he was playing defense, he was doing what it took to win the game. I think he put us on our back and carried the team.”

When Mbakwe was carrying the Gophers on his back in the early minutes, the Hoosiers stayed in the game by posting 12 of their first 20 points of the game from behind the arc.

In the first half alone, IU was 5-of-12 from behind the arc. Minnesota, meanwhile, struggled to hit any open looks from three-point land, finishing the half 1-of-7.

For the game, the Hoosiers (9-of-23) out-shot their opponent (4-of-20) from behind the arc, but what killed IU was the fact that Minnesota’s missed three-pointers turned into long offensive rebounds that extended possessions for the Gophers.

Here’s where Mbakwe was the difference.

Throughout the game, Mbakwe’s offensive rebounding devastated IU chances because his six offensive boards led to second-chance opportunities that gave Minnesota confidence.

As the rest of the Golden Gophers began to see how much energy the grizzled veteran was expending while battling for rebounds, they fed off it and took their game to another level.

In all, the Gophers scored 21 second-chance points off of 23 offensive rebounds – the most offensive rebounds the Hoosiers have allowed an opponent since allowing 19 offensive boards to Butler.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, Mbawke was leading the Big Ten by averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, including a Big Ten-best 3.2 offensive rebounds per game.

With 21 points and 12 rebounds, the 6-foot-8, 245 pound forward posted his Big Ten leading 9th double-double of the season and the 32nd double-double of his career.

“That’s a grown man that’s one of the best rebounders in the country,” Crean said.

As the game went on, you could see that Mbakwe’s presence on the glass affected Christian Watford and Cody Zeller.

Watford, who entered averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, was shut down by the duoof Mbakwe and Rodney Williams all night. By the end, Watford could only record two rebounds – one of which came with the game out of reach with only 3 seconds remaining.

Watford’s improvement to become a consistent rebounder has been one of the biggest differences for the Hoosiers this season. Against Mbawke and Minnesota, the senior looked more like the younger Watford that was more passive on the glass.

As for Zeller, the sophomore’s only two points of the first half came the free throw line (0-for-4 from the field) as he struggled to get anything going with two turnovers, two fouls and only two first half rebounds.

He would finish the game with only nine points and seven rebounds.

“You got to make (Zeller) play both ends of the court,” Minnesota Coach Tubby Smith said. “Trevor playing the way he did early on helped.”

This was a game that the Hoosiers wanted to win, but on the other hand, this was a game that Minnesota needed to win as the Big Ten regular season closes out.

After the game, IU Assistant Coach Steve McClain said that the Hoosiers knew that they were going to be facing a desperate team.

He was right.

The Golden Gophers played with urgency, but no body played with more desperation than Trevor Mbakwe.