How Richard Pitino's Gophers are erasing the memory of a disastrous season

Richard Pitino knew year three of his tenure at Minnesota would be difficult.

“I always did think we would take a step back, but I didn’t think we would take that big of a step back,” Pitino told FOX Sports.

After winning the NIT in his first season and coming up short of the postseason in his second, Minnesota struggled in 2015-2016. Nothing seemed to go right. The Gophers won just eight games, had two defections and three players were suspended to close the season.

“It was very challenging,” he said.

But Pitino and his Minnesota team have regrouped to become one of the early surprises of the 2016-2017 season.

Richard Pitino

Midway through the year, the Gophers are 14-2 and boast a top 15 road victory over Purdue. In the non-conference they lost just one game — No. 12 Florida State — and knocked off Arkansas, St. John’s and Vanderbilt. They were the first team out of last week's AP top 25 and have since added a win over Northwestern and will face Ohio State on Sunday before the next rankings are released.

“I just think winning breeds confidence, everyone just listens a little bit better when you’re winning,” Pitino said. “Guys are more positive. Guys feel good about themselves, and at the end of the day as a coach that’s what you want.”

That type of confidence is showing on the court.

On Dec. 27, in Minnesota’s first league game in the Big Ten, the Gophers blew a lead late in the game and lost to perennial Big Ten power Michigan State in overtime. Quite frankly, it was a game Minnesota should have won.

But the Gophers bounced back in arguably the most important stretch of the season, with the back-to-back road wins over Purdue and Northwestern.

Nate Mason

“It’s still very, very early,” Pitino said. “We’ve obviously had a good ride, but these guys are confident. You need a confident group to go out there and win and we did that.”

Nate Mason has been a bright spot for Pitino, averaging 14.5 points, 5.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds a game. Mason’s three-point percentage is just under 43, which is up from 30 percent last year. He’s scored in double figures every game but one this season.

“Whether it be in a game, whether it be in practice or in his daily habits, all those things, I think he’s so much more mature and that just shows,” Pitino said about Mason.

“In this league, in the Big Ten, in the programs that are good, they find ways to have upperclassmen that are good, and luckily for us we have Nate and he’s been pretty good for us so far.”

Perhaps one of the biggest differences from last year is Mason has had more consistent help on the perimeter. Sophomore Dupree McBrayer has developed into an aggressive off-guard that can score. Freshman Amir Coffey gives the Gophers a versatile wing that can fill multiple roles. Between the three, they average 39.1 points a game and give Pitino the type of perimeter that fits how he wants to play.

Dupree McBrayer 

“Everybody is always obsessed with positions,” Pitino said. “To me my ones, twos and threes are all pretty similar and I can move them around and put them up on a wing and make you go make a play, from an offensive standpoint.”

“That’s ideal for us to have that dimension,” he added. “I think Dupree is really playing confidently, getting to the basket, but I like having that one-two-three punch of being able to get to the rim and be aggressive.”

Minnesota’s post duo of Jordan Murphy and Reggie Lynch have been a big part of their early season success too.

Murphy is an impressive rebounder who has posted five double-doubles, while Lynch is No. 6 in the nation with 49 blocked shots through 16 games. While their defense stands out, Pitino has been just as impressed with their offense.

“Between the two of them, you got two viable options to throw it in to and it really helps offensively,” he said.

It’s certainly still early and in a conference as wide open as the Big Ten, anything can happen. But with their talented perimeter, bruising post players and the emergence of freshman Eric Curry (6.3 PPG & 6 RPG), the Gophers sure look like an NCAA Tournament team 16 games into the season.

Behind Trevon Bluiett’s hot start

Trevon Bluiett (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett has been one of the best scorers in the country through the first half of the season.

Through Xavier’s 12-2 start, Bluiett has led the way averaging 17.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game. Bluiett has scored in double figures in 12 of the 14 games and has gone for more than 20 eight different times.

So what makes Bluiett such an effective scorer?

“Last year and this year he’s always played with a ton of confidence, and that’s the first thing that sticks out,” Xavier head coach Chris Mack told FOX Sports. “The second thing that really sticks out is he has a really quick release.”

“You know, he’s not 6-foot-2 or 6-3, he’s a legitimate 6-6 and he has such a quick release so it’s really difficult for defenders to affect his shot because he has a high release point and he gets the ball out of his hand so quick and he plays with a lot of confidence.”

As a sophomore, Bluiett averaged 15.1 points a game and shot nearly 40 percent from three. While his three-point percentage is slightly down from last season, Bluiett is making his two-point shots at 52 percent, up from 45 percent last season.

His points average is up nearly three a game from last year, but Mack was quick to point out that Bluiett hasn’t made a big change to his game. He did point to improved conditioning.

“I think he’s in the best shape of his life,” he said. “I think he’s got teammates that really look for him and, as you get older and get into your junior year you really settle into the role the coach has for you, your confidence level as a player, I think that’s probably what I would point to. I think he got a little bit better off the bounce and his improved conditioning.”

Bluiett and Xavier have a tough stretch of games coming up. After a seven-day break, the Musketeers play against St. John’s on Saturday, before traveling to No. 1 Villanova and No. 18 Butler and then taking on No. 10 Creighton at home.

News & Notes

Orlando Antigua (right)

— With the news on Tuesday that South Florida had fired men’s basketball coach Orlando Antigua, there are now four schools that are expected to have head coaching openings in the spring. To go with USF, Drake, Morehead State and George Washington have each parted ways with their coach during the season.

— Five-star high school recruit Hamidou Diallo will make his college choice on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. According to sources, Diallo will not only announce his destination, but also that he plans to enroll at the semester break. Diallo took recent visits to Connecticut and Kentucky. The Wildcats are the heavy favorite. Although he plans to enroll, Diallo doesn’t intend to play during the second semester.

— Creighton had five-star wing Brian Bowen on campus for an unofficial visit for its game against Villanova on New Year's Eve. Bowen, who ranks No. 19 overall in the 2017 class, is also considering Arizona, Michigan State, NC State and Texas. He’s taken officials to each of the five schools involved, except for Michigan State. Bowen told FOX Sports that he’s looking to make his college choice in January.

— Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe is closing in on making his next move. Cunliffe took a visit to Georgetown and followed that up with a trip to Kansas. Seattle University is also involved to a degree. Cunliffe is arguably the best available transfer after averaging 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds through 10 games this season.