Are Gophers Ready for SDSU to Come to Town? - OPEN THREAD

Where

Williams Arena

When

7:00 PM

How

ESPN3 (online only)

After dropping a game to South Dakota in double OT the Gophers host South Dakota State hoping not to go 0-2 against the state. The Jackrabbits are 7-1 and appear to be quite a bit better than the Coyotes of USD. They have a KenPom ranking of 62 and have already beat a Power 5 team with a 9-point win at TCU.

Keys to a Gopher Win

Keep It Simple Stupid- Lets not overcomplicate things here. This team is not finding it's rhythm, not found an identity but they need to start doing the little things right. It is a simple game. Make shots when you are open, play a little defense and rebound the basketball. This team just needs to start finding little success and get better every game. Just get better.

Logan Doyle and Ian Theisen are the only two Minnesotan's on the Jackrabbit's roster. Theisen plays about 16 minutes per game and averages 7.5, the fear is always that these local guys have career nights against the Gophers. But more importantly we should focus on our backcourt clamping down on Deondre Parks who is leading SDSU in scoring at 16.3 ppg and has 5.0 rebounds per game as a 6-1 guard.

My Christmas wish is that this team starts to play like a cohesive unit, particularly on the defensive end. Starting tonight.