No. 18 Minnesota loses at home to Illinois

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tubby Smith spoke softly at the podium, again lamenting costly turnovers and bad decisions by his once-surging team.

Removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, the Minnesota coach wondered out aloud whether he’d have to bring in psychological help for his struggling players.

Tyler Griffey capped a terrific week for Illinois with 16 points, and the Fighting Illini went 11 for 23 from 3-point range to beat the No. 18 Golden Gophers 57-53 on Sunday.

“The same issues we had before, as far as taking care of the basketball,” Smith said. “That’s something that’s a real concern. We keep talking about it and working on it.”

Three days after Griffey’s buzzer-beating layup gave Illinois (17-8, 4-7 Big Ten) a victory over No. 1 Indiana, Tracy Abrams swished a step-back 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to stretch the lead over Minnesota to four. For all the good defense the Gophers played early in the game, they didn’t guard the perimeter against a team that relies heavily on outside shooting.

When the Gophers (17-7, 5-6) won 84-67 at Assembly Hall last month, they held the Illini to 3-for-24 from 3-point range.

“We knew it was going to come,” said Austin Hollins, who led Minnesota with 16 points. “We’ve just got to get out there.”

Tags: college sports, sports, basketball