The University of Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball team came into this season with some pretty low expectations, at least I thought so. Then, they came out HOT! I mean REALLY HOT!

Their only loss before the start of conference play was too Florida State in Tallahassee, who are ranked number six in the nation. The Gophers then knocked off a good Purdue team, beat Northwestern and Ohio State and then were ranked for the first time since 2013.

Well, it hasn't been too good since. The Gophers have lost their fifth straight Big Ten game, and four of those losses were by a combined 17 points.

That includes this afternoon's loss to a solid Maryland team. All of those games were win-able. Actually, the Gophers should have won all four of those games. It is really frustrating because the Gophers have shown that they can play with anyone...until the end of the game. They just can't close.

Those Gophers led by as much as 12 against the Terps, but Maryland was able to hit 11 3's en route to the victory. The Gophers have been one of the best three-point defenses in the country, but they didn't look like that this afternoon. The Terps were able to get looks and hit shots whenever they wanted. It was frustrating to watch and listen too.

Hopefully they will be able to turn it around, but after a promising start, it doesn't look great in Dinkytown. I think this team is good enough to make the NCAA Tournament, but if they can't find a way to win games, they wont make it. It is that simple.

You can catch the Gophers on KVGO 104.3-FM! Get the schedule HERE!

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