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Gophers basketball: Richard Pitino's father offers team words of wisdom

Related Topics: Basketball, Richard Pitino

Hearing a different voice other than their own coach gave the Gophers basketball players an early boost Saturday.

But Louisville coach Rick Pitino's pre-game speech still wasn't enough to help to spark Minnesota in a 70-63 loss to Indiana.

Pitino spoke to his son's team in the locker room before the game about being mentally tough during a rough stretch.

The Gophers, who have now lost seven straight and 10 of 11, had been saying they were clearly lacking confidence after back-to-back 25-point losses to Northwestern and Nebraska.

"He just told us to play hard," freshman Jordan Murphy said.