The Gophers get to finish out the season with five home games in the final seven. Tonight is game one of this stretch and it is the first of the season against Wisconsin. The rivalry game is always a big one and it is one that would be a very nice resume boost for the Gophers who are clearly on the NCAA bubble and would like to stay there.

Game Time: 6:00
TV: ESPN

Believe it or not the Badgers have more kids from Minnesota than they do who played their high school ball in Wisconsin. Five of the 10 starters tonight will be local kids so the familiarity on the court should be significant. But this little nugget is really more interesting to fans than it is relevant to the outcome of the game. Is Jordan Taylor going to be "extra motivated" to beat his hometown Gophers tonight? Maybe, but it isn't like his lights us up every time he faces the Gophers. Overall he is 1-3 vs. Minnesota and has scored over 5 points only once in those four games. Bruesewitz and Berggren are both 1-1 against the Gophers being fortunate to miss the two losses in the 2008-09 season.

I don't know that dominating the Gophers is really what is going to motivate those guys. Getting a Big Ten road victory to keep their hopes of a Big Ten title alive should probably be more of a motivator.

The Gopher roster is frustratingly inconsistent. It was the starters who carried the team to a win at Indiana and it was the bench who sparked the win over Illinois. And both groups stunk at Iowa. It is hard to know what you are going to get out of this roster when each night it is someone new who may (or may not) step up.

Wisconsin's numbers defensively are really (REALLY) impressive. #2 in the country in points allowed per possession and #1 in defensive eFG%. It might be awfully hard for the Gopher offense to score tonight and it might be an ugly game where the bulk of our points come from the free throw line.

Defensively the Gopher's #1 priority is going to be getting out to the three-point line. Wisconsin gets 35% of their points from behind the arc which is 32nd in the country. As a point of reference the Gophers score only 22.4% of our points from three, ranking near the bottom of D1 basketball. But if we can get out and guard the three that might take the Badgers out of their offensive rhythm, allowing us to stay in the game.

The other key to the game, I think, will be rebounding. Wisconsin hasn't been hitting the offensive glass at a super high rate this year. Ralph and Rodney and the guards need to make sure that trend continues by ending possessions with a rebound. Keep offensive rebounds down, we will lose if we give them a number of second chances.

Scoring will be low and points will be hard to come by. Over the last few years this has been a good match-up for the Gophers and let's hope the trend continues at The Barn tonight.

Can we avenge the loss to Iowa from early January? Since that loss the Gophers are 4-2 with a couple nice wins while Iowa has gone the other way going 1-5. Let's keep these trends going, shall we?

Game Time: 7:30
TV: BTN

I am more curious about the Gopher lineup than I am the opponent's tonight. Julian Welch was benched down the stretch of the Illinois game in favor of Andre Hollins. Was Tubby riding the hot hand or is Andre earning himself some more time? Elliason has an ankle injury which may or may not affect his PT, Tubby has said that Oto will play more and we'll "go small."

Can Rodney and Joe get going offensively tonight against one of the weaker defensive teams in the conference?

This Iowa team does not defend very well, they are OK at rebounding and they do not turn the ball over. But what those numbers don't show is that this team works pretty hard and at least when we played before they wanted the W more than we did.

Now I think that the Gophers are a completely different team than they were last time around, so I'm not that worried about tonight's game. I think we win and I think we win by double-digits. I sure hope my confidence pays off because this game has to be a win.

This is not a "must win" game but is absolutely is a "can't lose" game. If you want to make the NCAA Tournament you absolutely cannot be swept by Iowa. If you want to get taken seriously you win this game. Dropping one or two games to teams that you shouldn't will occasionally happen, but lightning cannot strike twice in this case.

Get the win!

The Gophers look to get back on track with a home win this evening over Illinois. Can they avenge the OT loss they suffered in the Big Ten opener?

TV: BTN
Game Time: 7:00

The Illini are not a very deep team. The eight names you see above are possibly going to be the only eight guys you see on the Barn floor tonight. The problem for the Gophers is that they are all very dangerous. Paul, Richardson and Leonard are about as good a trio as you will find. Maniscalco is capable of throwing in 20 and so is Bertrand, both have hit 15 or more on three different occasions this season. So they have a few guys who are very dangerous and then a few more guys who can punch you in the gut if you aren't paying attention to them.

But after beating Ohio State on the back of Brandon Paul, the Illini have lost two in a row. So they go back on the road hoping to avoid a third one. When they played earlier in the year Minnesota was a team still searching for an identity. I think they are a different team now with more confidence in what they do well. Should be a great game.

The Gophers are looking for their first win in East Lansing since 1997. Can they break the losing-streak tonight? Can they get back to .500 in the Big Ten?

Game Time: 7:30
TV: BTN

This is a good Michigan State lineup that executes very well on both ends of the floor. Overall it isn't as intimidating of a lineup as we have seen in the past but Draymond Green is a great power forward and one of the most fun kids in the Big Ten to watch. He is a double-double machine, much like our own Trevor Mbakwe. But he has a motor, he plays with passion and he has fun out on the court; easily one of my favorite Big Ten players. But putting my Draymond love aside, he is a beast and how we will defend him concerns me.

Rodney Williams is a great match-up for us when he is guarding slighter power forwards, but he does not seem to fare well in the paint against big and strong forwards. Can he create a mismatch by pulling Green out to the perimeter? Yes, on offense. But defending the larger yet nimble Green is going to be a mismatch in favor of the Spartans.

After that match-up the one I'm most intrigued with is what will Tom Izzo do with Joe Coleman? He has been hot over the last few games and you know that Izzo will find a way to keep Coleman out of the paint and away from the free throw line. It might be up to others tonight to draw some attention before Joe can get into an offensive rhythm.

Statistically this is an awful matchup for us. Sometimes systems and coaches do not match-up very well. I believe there is a reason why Izzo is 9-1 against Tubby and it is more than just a talent differential. On the other side of the coin I think we have a favorable system match-up with Wisconsin (3-3 record in Tubby era). But Michigan State is a team that is too patient as they execute their offense, they rebound better than anyone in the conference and they play sound defense not giving up very many easy baskets. If there is one area where Izzo teams tend to struggle it can be with turnovers. Over the last few years the Gophers have not done a great job of forcing Spartan turnovers but it can be an issue that bites them.

I do not think this game is unwinable, but we will have to control the boards and force some turnovers that lead to baskets. Michigan State has lost two of their last three but those were road losses and they have been playing very well at home.

I wouldn't say that I'm confident we will win this game but with the way we have been playing for two weeks I do expect that this will be a very good game. Can we pull out another road upset over a ranked team?

With a full week to prepare, will the Gophers be able to get their first home win at the Barn?

Game Time: 3:00
TV: BTN

NU has switched up their starting lineup recently so this might still be tinkered with. This may seem strange but everyone on this roster scares me. Marcotullio is averaging just 4.0 ppg this year after around 6 ppg last year but he averaged 13.3 against Minnesota last year. When the game was close on Wednesday, Sobolewski was getting to the basket and making some tough shots in the lane, I fear he could go off for 15+. Shurna and Crawford already score a lot of points so they obviously worry me.

Their offense is crisp and when executed it is tough to defend. I fear that we are going to be so concerned about watching out for the next weakside screen that we forget about help defense while Sobolewski walks down the middle of the lane for a lay-up. And then Shurna, Marcotullio and Crawford start draining threes on us.

Based on the efficiency stats NU is the complete opposite of Penn State. The Nittany Lions were awfully inefficient offensively and they are a very good rebounding team. NU is not very good on the glass but they take care of the ball and they score at a high rate of their possessions.

On paper I see that this is a game we should win. I believe that we have better athletes and we are playing much better over the last couple weeks AND we have had a full week to get healthy and prepare for this game. But Northwestern is a highly skilled team that is capable of scoring a lot of points if we aren't disciplined.

I'm starting to feel more confidence in this Gopher team again so I'm going to believe that we will win today.

The Gophers travel to Penn State hoping to ride the wave of confidence after a huge win at Indiana.

Game Time: 3:00
TV: BTN

Tim Frazier scares me and after watching Michigan's Trey Burke destroy us off the dribble, I fear that Frazier may beat us single-highhandedly. The other noteworthy guy on the roster for Minnesota fans is Ross Travis. A freshman from Chaska who is averaging 17 min off the bench and about 4.5 points and rebounds per game. Taking on local kids who didn't get a scholarship offer from Tubby is always dangerous. I don't expect he will go off for 16 points and a dozen rebounds or anything crazy but he may make a handful of backbreaking plays that inspire the Nittany Lions.

So Penn State is a great rebounding team. They crash the offensive glass and they box out defensively. The rest of their numbers are not very pretty. By more traditional statistics they rank at or near the bottom of the Big Ten in scoring offense, FG%, 3-pnt FG%, defensive 3-pnt FG%, blocked shots and assists. Their efficiency stats echo the same story. But they do rebound quite well. So today I'm going to give you 2 keys to the game?

1 - BOX OUT - We are pretty good at crashing the offensive glass but we also give up our share of offensive boards. Box out and do not give them very many second chance points.

2 - Contain Frazier - He is the one guy who can take over the game and beat us. I am fearing a lot of pick-n-rolls, we better be ready for it.

Those are two things that we can do. Assuming we can handle those simple tasks I think our offense will be fine against a farily weak defensive team. Is a winning streak too much to ask? We are looking for not just back-to-back wins but back-to-back ROAD wins. Get this done and then we can really start gaining some confidence this year again.

We all know the numbers. 0-5, 14 of our last 15, it has to end. Unfortunately we are heading on the road to face a top 10 team. Indiana has quickly turned things around, they get Ohio State again in a few days so maybe they are looking past the lowly Gophers.

Game Time: 7:00
TV: BTN

Wouldn't it be nice if our PF/C combo was averaging over 27 ppg. For that would would need our PF healthy and a C who wanted to score. This team has four starters averaging double figures and the fifth is a guy the Gophers heavily recruited and has been a double-digit scorer each of his last three seasons. Very talented roster that was made better by the addition of a five-star talent like Zeller, who I'm really anxious to watch play.

Minnesota put Coleman into the lineup last game and I assume they'll go with it again at Indiana as he had a pretty good game. Personally I'd love to see Mav and Ralph off the bench in favor of Andre and Elliott, why not give those guys a chance at this point?

Our numbers get worse and worse every game thread I have to type. This season is getting depressing. We need a spark, we need a big win to gain some confidence. We need to avoid 0-5.

Game Time: 5:00
TV: BTN

Robbie Hummel in his 13th year of college eligibility will be the best player on the floor. He is fun to watch as he is just a smart and sound basketball player. I fear it is a bad matchup if he is guarding Rodney for much of the game. Based on personnell we will really need our backcourt to step up their game on both ends of the floor to stay in this one.

Statistically Purdue is very good on both ends of the floor. Their numbers (and record) would indicate that they are not quite as dominant as they have been in recent years but they are still a very good team. Minnesota's numbers are slowly getting worse. Turnover % is increasing, rebounding % is going down and our offensive efficiency is becoming less so.

With all of that said it is starting to feel like this is one of those times when expectations have been lowered enough that the Gophers will come out and win this game. Logically there is no reason to think we will win based on stats and based on what I've seen on the floor in the last couple weeks. But I think the Gophers may surprise us today.

This is just what the Gophers need, a home game against a team they should beat. I'm sure that is what Badger fans thought a week ago too, so maybe we better take this game seriously. We are 0-2 in the conference so we better be taking every game seriously.

Game Time: 8:00
TV: BTN

Fran McCaffery has himself an entire roster of 6-5 to 6-7 forwards. No real big men, not a true point guard. I like this game from the standpoint that we should hold an advantage in the paint again and Iowa does not boast a roster of great three-point shooters. What does give me pause and concern is their ability to penetrate to the paint and score.

Looking at the numbers it is obvious that Iowa does some of the little things right, which is probably how they were able to play Purdue to within 3 points and then beat Wisconsin on the road. As you can see Iowa ranks in the top 50 in both defensive rebounding and turnovers. When you stop opponent possessions with a rebound 71% of the time and don't turn the ball over you give yourself a chance to win if you can make some shots.

Between these two teams you probably won't see a lot of threes attempted or made. Iowa gets only 19.3% of their total points from behind the arc and Minnesota gets just 20.7%, both ranking in the 300s nationally. The Gophers will have to play some perimeter defense by moving their feet and helping on penetration. And our big men had better be prepared to step up on penetration without fouling. There is a strong possibility that Ralph and Rodney get into foul trouble because every time an opponent comes into the lane their eyes get wide anticipating a massive blocked shot. They need to be big, stay on their feet and stay out of foul trouble. They won't get as many blocked shots but they'll get more minutes to rack up points on the other end of the floor.

In the end I still believe Iowa is a lower tier team than the Gophers. They got their surprise win of the year already. Iowa beating Minnesota won't be nearly as shocking as beating Wisconsin (some might not be shocked at all) but I just don't believe it will happen tonight.

HAPPY NEW YEAR. 2011 is finally over for Gopher basketball and maybe 2012 will be a kinder year to the program. We start the year out with a trip to Michigan where our season was effectively ended last year with the Al Nolen injury. So far this season I'm seeing a pattern to the Gopher's. We win six games, lose one. Then we win six games and lose one. Time to start that next six game win streak this afternoon in Ann Arbor.

Game Time: 3:00
TV: BTN

The Wolverines thought to be suffering a significant setback in the offseason when their best player, Darius Morris, decided to enter the NBA Draft. But things haven't been too bad because of the emergence of freshman point guard Trey Burke. The three-star PG out of Columbus has twice won conference freshman of the week honors and is 2nd on the team in scoring.

The matchup I like is Austin Hollins on Zach Novak (I hope that is the matchup). Hollins is the one guy I trust to not get lost on defense and will limit the amount of wide open looks Novak will get. I expect Michigan will run some sets for Novak and Hollins may not get the help he needs, but for the most part I think this is an opportunity to keep his three-point shooting contained.

The matchup I do not like is Rodney guarding Evan Smotrycz. The 6-9 sophomore is shooting nearly 58% from behind the line and with 38 attempts (would be good enough for 2nd on Gophers as far as attempts go). I fear that Rodney will get lost defensively or sink too low hoping to get a blocked shot while Smotrycz will leak out to the line and be wide open for three after three.

The number that jumps out is Michigan's eFG%, where they rank 3rd nationally. That is such a high number because they shoot a lot of threes and they make a lot of threes. 36.7% of their total points scored come from behind the arc. And because people respect their threes so much, they then take advantage of that by getting some easy 2s. They currently lead the nation in 2 pnt FG%.

I see two keys to today's game.

1 - Stop the Three - The problem here is that we do not defend the three very well, haven't for a few years. If we can get out and defend the three, bringing their percentage down and making them work for their points then I think we win this game. Austin needs to lock down Novak. Rodney needs to pay attention to Smotrycz.

2 - Dominate the Paint - For us to win the game offensively we need to pound the ball inside. Sampson, Eliason and Rodney should be able to score inside. Michigan has a thin bench and a short roster. Ralph needs to use his three or four inch advantage over Jordan Morgan and dominate the paint. And after a game where Rodney was ineffective against a big/strong Illini frontcourt, I think this is an opportunity for him to get the ball inside and score often. Smotrycz is a shooting forward, Rodney needs to get physical with him in the paint and the guards need to get him the ball around the rim. This can be done.

After seeing how we played at Illinois, I have more confidence that we can win this game. But Michigan cannot get comfortable shooting threes or we might get buried. We will lose a game where we trade threes for twos.