Pitino a Dead Man Walking After Gophers Lose to Nebraska

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Photo: @HuskerHoops - Twitter

We knew the Minnesota Golden Gophers were in a late-season slump and that their 2021 NCAA Tournament hopes were in danger of slipping away. But consecutive losses vs Big Ten bottom-feeders, Northwestern and Nebraska, have dropped the Richard Pitino elevator to a new Dinkytown low.

Marcus Carr had a massive game, scoring a career high 41 points, but it wasn’t enough. In fact, the Gophers made the game close late, but they trailed by 10 for most of the 2nd half.

Outside of Carr, this team cannot shoot. It’s the worst shooting Minnesota Gophers team I’ve seen… and I’ve watched every one since 1996 (born in ’89). It’d be difficult to try shooting as poorly as they do.

If you subtract Carr’s ridiculous numbers tonight, the Gophers shot 30% (13/43) from the field and 13% (2/15) from 3PT. It’s literally embarrassing that Big Ten Network allows this team on semi-national TV.

Oh Richard

At this point, it’s no longer about whether Richard Pitino will be fired… but when. The University of Minnesota has to pay Pitino a $400K bonus if he’s still employed on May 1. In theory, that brings his $1.75 buyout down to $1.35M if you make the move in the next two months.

Pandemic or not, major collegiate athletic departments wipe their asses with that. Experts and analysts around the league expect Minnesota to be the best early job available, adding even more reason to pull the plug on the Richard Pitino era.

We’ll see if Coyle has the chest hair to fire Pitino before the season comes to a conclusion…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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