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Where
williams Arena
When
7:15 PM
How
BTn
Pos. | Minnesota Golden Gophers | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Indiana Hoosiers | Pos. | |
PG | Deandre Mathieu | 11.7 | 17.8 | Yogi Ferrell | PG | |
G | Andre Hollins | 15.1 | 7.2 | Stanford Robinson | G | |
G | Austin Hollins | 11.8 | 10.0 | Will Sheehey | F | |
F | Oto Osenieks | 6.6 | 6.6 | Troy Williams | F | |
F | Elliott Eliason | 6.2 | 11.7 | Noah Vonleh | F | |
Bench | Malik Smith | 10.1 | 2.4 | Austin Etherington | Bench | |
Bench | Joey King | 6.5 | 6.6 | Evan Gordon | Bench | |
Bench | Maurice Walker | 7.1 | 6.8 | Jeff Hollowell | Bench |
A key game for the Gophers who have dropped three in a row. The match-ups that intrigue me most are at point and a center. Matthieu finally gets matched with a player with similar quickness, it should be very interesting. On the other end of the spectrum the match-up of Eliason (and Walker) facing Noah Vonleh will be a key for the Gophers.
Efficiency Stats (national rank in parenthesis if significant)
Minnesota | Indiana | |
Off PPP | 1.153 (21) | 1.046 |
Def PPP | 1.009 | 0.937 (18) |
Off TO% | 17.6% | 21.9% (330) |
Def TO% | 18.5% | 18.3% |
Off Reb % | 34.7% | 39.8% (7) |
Def Reb % | 69.0% | 72.6% (30) |
One stat is very encouraging and another is not. First of all, Indiana turns the ball over at LOT. In conference games only, they rank last in TO%. This has to be an area that the Gophers exploit. We are not forcing turnovers at nearly the rate I was hoping this season, tonight may be an opportunity to gain some gift possessions.
What Indiana is going very well is hitting the offensive glass. Overall they are 7th nationally hitting the offensive glass. We saw what this did to the Gophers when they went to Purdue. This concerns me more than any confidence I may have gained from the Indiana's turnover issues.
Keys to a Gopher Win
Defending Noah Vonleh - The Hoosier freshman has been a key offensive weapon and how the Gophers defend him will be key.
Defense and Defensive Rebounding - Defensively I'd like to see the Gophers show a game similar to the Wisconsin game. In that game they played so well together, made things difficult for their opponent and they didn't let someone get hot. Not only that, but they absolutely need to keep the Hoosiers off the offensive glass. This they do very well and we have really struggled.