Where
Xfinity Center
When
11:00 AM
How
BTN
Pos. | Minnesota Golden Gophers | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Maryland Terrapins | Pos. | |
PG | Deandre Mathieu | 9.5 | 15.9 | Melo Trimble | PG | |
G | Andre Hollins | 13.2 | 8.9 | Richaud Pack | G | |
G | Carlos Morris | 12.8 | 6.6 | Jared Nickens | F | |
F | Joey King | 10.1 | 14.9 | Jake Layman | F | |
F | Maurice Walker | 12.0 | 4.9 | Damonte Dodd | F | |
Bench | Nate Mason | 10.8 | 6.1 | Dion Wiley | Bench | |
Bench | Elliott Eliason | 4.7 | 3.8 | Michael Cekovsky | Bench | |
Bench | Charles Buggs | 4.2 | 2.7 | Jonathan Graham | Bench |
Two guys averaging about 16 points per game, they might be the guys worth keeping an eye on each and every possession.
Efficiency Stats (national rank in parenthesis if significant)
Minnesota | Maryland | |
Off PPP | 1.087 (30) | 1.087 (31) |
Def PPP | 0.938 | 0.917 (32) |
Off TO% | 18.8% | 18.7% |
Def TO% | 27.3% (3) | 17.4% |
Off Reb % | 30.4% | 31.1% |
Def Reb % | 67.1% | 71.4% |
Maryland is a solid team on both ends of the floor with a couple very good scorers. This is a pretty good team and will finish very near the top of the Big Ten standings. They opened their conference schedule with a Double OT win over Michigan State on the road. Now they come home and face what will hopefully be an angry Gopher team after giving away the game at Purdue on Wednesday afternoon.
Keys to a Gopher Win
No Lapses, Be Sharp - The Terps are solid on both ends of the floor and Minnesota is going to have to be sharp on each and every possession. This Gopher team, against other quality opponents, has had too many stretches of poor play and poor decisions. These add up quickly and a double-digit lead with under 10 minutes to play can turn into a loss (gonna be hard to let that one go). Anyway, Maryland is pretty good and we have to be sharp on every possession.
Defend Layman - I get nervous when an opponent has a scoring power forward, defending one of them is not exactly a strength of this team. I'm sure we will see the zone quite a bit so the individual match-up won't be as obvious but we this guy makes me nervous.