Depleted Gophers Host Badger on Senior Night - OPEN THREAD

Where

Williams arena

When

8:00 PM

How

BTN

Lineups and Matchups

Typically this is where we put in the projected lineups, but really...it doesn't matter.

I am looking forward to Jordan Murphy going up against Nigel Hayes and/or Vitto Brown. Should be a very good challenge for him and I'd love to see Murphy morph into a version similar to Hayes. He is a fun player to watch and I'm excited to see how Murphy plays tonight against him and the rest of the Badger frontcourt.

Senior Night

This is when the Program and University gets to acknowledge the seniors before the final home game of their career. Hats off to Joey King who has been the source of plenty of criticism over his career but also very much recognized as a hard-working kid who is a fantastic representative of Gopher Basketball (something that today seems to be a valuable attribute). King will likely forever be remember for his tearful interview following the Gopher's surprising upset win over #6 Maryland. A kid who truly desired to play with a maroon and gold uniform and cared about the name on the front of the jersey more than the one on the back. A tough kid and his leadership will be missed. Hats off to you Joey King.

Keys to a Gopher Win (yes, I realize the futile-ness of this exercise)

It doesn't matter. Dorsey, Mason and McBrayer are probably three of our four best players (maybe three of best 5), that coupled with the fact that we matchup poorly with the Badger

No Fouls for Murphy - an active and talented frontcourt is going to test Murphy defensively. He absolutely needs to stay out of foul trouble. Really he needs to have a monster game, but it all starts with staying on the floor. Then he needs to play great defense, be a force on offense, make his free throws and dominate. No problem...no pressure big man!

NO TURNOVERS - Maybe a lot to ask of a walk-on point guard starting in a Big Ten game against a good team. Sharp will be starting at the point and he had a very nice first half at Illinois. But turnovers overcame him and it led to the Gophers getting beat handily in the second half. Limit turnovers and hopefully a few days of practice will make a significant difference.

Prediction

Gophers put it all together and get a wildly unexpected win on the back of Murphy for most of the game before Darin Haugh, who spent his freshman season playing at UW-Platteville hits a three at the buzzer and the walk-on wins the game.