Posted by Pat Forde
INDIANAPOLIS -- Among those in the front row of the Minnesota fan section are a group of Tubby Smith's old friends from his Kentucky coaching days, among them Van Florence and Jack Burford.
Florence was the curator of the UK basketball museum and a program fixture through several coaches. Burford owns a car dealership in Richmond, Ky. They drove up to see Smith's team play in the afternoon and have dinner with him Thursday night at Ruth's Chris Steak House.
The single most telling thing about their presence sitting beside Tubby's wife, Donna? Kentucky is playing at the same time in the SEC tournament in Tampa, Fla. It's a sign of the dissatisfaction with Smith's successor, Billy Gillispie, that they were tuning out the Wildcats and driving three hours north to see Minnesota play.
Game action: Kevin Coble wants to play in the Big Dance. He has single-handedly kept Northwestern in its game against Minnesota with 19 of the Wildcats' 25 first-half points, capped by a pump-fake-and-step-through 3 at the buzzer to pull Northwestern within six.
Intensity personified: Minnesota backup center Colton Iverson deflected a Wildcats pass, then dove like Pete Rose on the loose ball and eventually was fouled by a Northwestern player. Great effort from a guy who goes 6-foot-10.
Then there was this from Northwestern senior guard Craig Moore. After Wildcats freshman center Kyle Rowley carelessly threw away a pass for his second turnover of the first half, Moore slammed two hands into Rowley's chest and grabbed his jersey, telling him in no uncertain terms that he needed to step it up. Moore then offered some gentler remarks a moment later.
One good thing about being in a half-empty gym: You can hear what coaches are saying. And when official Paul Janssen warned the Minnesota bench about saying or doing something early on, the Gophers' brass wasn't happy. Saul Smith, the coach's son and assistant, fired back at Janssen, and Tubby told the ref, "Why don't you watch the game instead of us?"
