The first game of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge is in the Barn.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WCCO
Internet: ESPN3.com
GameTime: 6:00
| Pos | Minnesota | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Virginia | Pos | |
| PG | Blake Hoffarber | 7.5 | 7.5 | Jontell Evans | G | |
| G | Chip Armelin | 9.0 | 7.5 | K.T. Harrell | G | |
| F | Austin Hollins | 7.0 | 9.7 | Joe Harris | F | |
| F | Trevor Mbakwe | 12.0 | 16.5 | Mike Scott | F | |
| C | Ralph Sampson III | 16.5 | 6.3 | Will Sherrill | F | |
| Bench | Colton Iverson | 7.0 | 8.2 | Mustapha Farrakhan | Bench | |
| Bench | Devoe Joseph | 6.0 | 1.8 | Assane Sene | Bench | |
| Bench | Maverick Ahanmisi | 7.5 | 7.5 | Billy Barron | Bench |
The one Cavalier to look out for is obviously Mike Scott. The senior forward has three double-doubles this seasons already including a 27 point, 15 rebound night against Oklahoma. But to be honest he isn't who scares me the most tonight. The one person that concerns me is Tony Bennett. He maybe hasn't had quite the same success that his father had but he was rather successful at Washington and he was certainly a big part of what they did at Wisconsin. I fear good coaching.
But ultimately this should be a classic inside-outside game for the Gophers. We have a distinct height advantage in the middle which should translate into points and rebounds. But you also need to factor in that fact that Virginia does a poor job at defending the three. Currently they are allowing teams to shoot 46.6% from behind the arc which ranks 339th nationally. So I guess they'll have to pick their poison. Stop Mbakwe, Sampson and Iverson in the middle or allow Hoffarber and hopefully Joseph (and Walker ?) to drop threes on them all night.
We are without our point guard tonight but we may get Joseph back in the lineup. Losing Nolen does make a bit concerned but I am pretty confident that we can handle this game with our inside game and our shooters.