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Where
Jersey
When
12:00 PM
How
BTN
| Pos. | Minnesota Golden Gophers | Pnt/Gm | Pnt/Gm | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Pos. | |
| PG | | | 8.5 | Bishop Daniels | G | |
| G | | | 16.3 | Corey Sanders | G | |
| F | Charles Buggs | 5.4 | 8.3 | Jonathan Laurent | G | |
| F | Jordan Murphy | 11.9 | 8.1 | D.J. Foreman | F | |
| C | Bakary Konate | 4.5 | 3.8 | Greg Lewis | C | |
| Bench | | | 3.9 | Ibrahima Diallo | Bench | |
| Bench | | | 11.6 | Mike Williams | Bench | |
| Bench | Mike Luckashewich (w) | 1.0 | 7.5 | Omari Grier | Bench |
Seriously, why is College Game Day not in Jersey for today's game?
Welcome to possibly the worst Big Ten game in the history of the conference. The Gophers? They are missing 37.8 ppg from four key players and replacing that production with 6.4 ppg. Only five scholarship players available to the Gophers for their final Big Ten game of the year.
A very similar situation to what Rutgers was facing when they visited Minnesota a couple weeks ago and lost by 22. Now the Scarlet Knights are home, looking for their first Big Ten win in 419 days and they've been handed a perfect opportunity facing an already weak and now depleted Gopher squad.
All of that to say...this may be the worst Big Ten basketball game in the history of the conference.
Keys to a Gopher Win (yes, I realize the futile-ness of this exercise)
Slow Down Sanders - The freshman guard didn't play against the Gophers the last time around but I have heard Sanders referred to as possibly the most dynamic scorer in the Big Ten. And he's going to be guarded by walk-on guards. If Sanders goes off for a huge game, it is going to be really hard for the Gophers win. On the other hand if they can find a way to slow him down and the scoring burden falls on the rest of this roster then I like our chances.
Jordan Murphy's World - The freshman had 19 points and 14 boards in the last meeting and he's going to need another big game today. The Gophers need to feed the big man and he is going to have to stay out of foul trouble.
Who Else Steps Up? - For either team. It may come down to who steps up as a viable second option and helps lead their team to a yuge Big Ten win.
Prediction: The walk-ons play with pride, take advantage of this rare opportunity and get a Big Ten win.