Minnesota Gophers fall to Tubby Smith and Texas Tech
The Minnesota Gophers faced a former head coach for the first time in school history on Sunday and former head coach Tubby Smith and Texas Tech got the last laugh in Puerto Rico.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders got out to a hot start and that was really enough for Tubby Smith’s Texas Tech club. Every time that Richard Pitino’s Minnesota Golden Gophers squad would make it close, the Red Raiders would go on another run to take it right out of the grasp of the Gophers. Texas Tech came out victoriously by a score of 81-68.
It was the first game the Gophers faced Tubby Smith since he was canned following a six year stint in the Twin Cities and the first time that the Gophers ever faced an ex-head coach. The move brought the Gophers Richard Pitino and sent Tubby Smith to Lubbock, both coaches have had about the same success in what is now their current gigs with maybe a slight edge to Pitino for the NIT run two seasons ago now.
No one really jumped out for the Golden Gophers on Sunday. The Gophers main scorer this season has been Joey King, but the Gophers and King couldn’t really buy a shot throughout the first half. King had only two points at halftime, but he would finished tied for team high of 15 points. Carlos Morris also had 15 points for Minnesota.
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Charles Buggs is the only player currently on the Gophers roster that was recruited by Tubby Smith and against his former coach he put up 10 points.
Devaugntah Williams was the high man for the Red Raiders scoring 21 points in the fifth place game in the Puerto Rico tipoff.
Tubby Smith also threw some great shade at Minnesota after the game:
Tubby Smith: "I’m really happy we were able to come to a place like Texas Tech where they’ll celebrate you and not just tolerate you."
— Amelia Rayno (@AmeliaRayno) November 23, 2015
If you want to read my opinion on Tubby Smith, you can find that here.
The Gophers are now off until Friday when they take on University of Nebraska – Omaha at The Barn. The game is scheduled for a 2:00 o’clock tipoff. After the Omaha game, the Gophers only have six non-conference games left.
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