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Where
Columbus, OH
When
6:00 PM
How
BTN
| Pos. | Minnesota Golden Gophers | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Ohio State Buckeyes | Pos. | |
| PG | Nate Mason | 12.5 | 9.2 | JaQuan Lyle | PG | |
| G | Dupree McBrayer | 4.0 | 11.5 | Jae'Sean Tate | G | |
| F | Carlos Morris | 11.4 | 13.0 | Keita Bates-Diop | F | |
| F | Joey King | 13.8 | 13.9 | Marc Loving | F | |
| C | Bakary Konate | 4.7 | 6.2 | Trevor Thompson | C | |
| Bench | Kevin Dorsey | 7.4 | 6.2 | Kam Williams | Bench | |
| Bench | Jordan Murphy | 10.8 | 2.2 | A.J. Harris | Bench | |
| Bench | Charles Buggs | 8.7 | 1.5 | Mickey Mitchell | Bench |
Not actually sure what the starting lineup will look like tonight, but don't ask Coach Pitino about it (he's not real happy with lineup questions lately). Kevin Dorsey is questionable to play tonight due to his foot injury, likely a game-time decision.
Keys to a Gopher Win
Force Turnovers - Ohio State's defense is very good. We struggle to score points against mediocre teams, tonight is going to be a real challenge. One opportunity we have here is that Ohio State is prone to turnovers. Force turnovers that lead to some transition baskets and maybe we can score enough to hang around. We are not particularly strong at forcing turnovers but it would really help tonight if we could.
Shoot the Ball Well - Again...not exactly a strength but when we have open shots, we are going to have to hit them tonight. The Big Ten season is going to be a struggle for the Gophers this year, especially on the road. But the nights we pull off a win it is going to have to come from shooting the ball well and get rolling a little bit, especially from three. Ohio State is athletic and likely going to control the interior tonight, so we are going to have to hit our shots.
Take Care of the Ball - the one thing we have been pretty good at this year is not turning the ball over. Lets keep doing that. So much negativity (particularly from me), but we haven't really been turnover prone and that is one way to help you stay in games. Take care of the ball, then hopefully find a way to score.
KenPom gives us a 16% chance to win this game. Hard to argue that. Hopefully we catch teams sleeping on us an we can hit some shots to make things interesting. It ultimately is going to come down to defense, can we figure out a way to slow teams down. Tonight? Ohio State is pretty good and tonight will be no picnic...welcome to the Big Ten portion of the schedule.