Minnesota Basketball: Gophers and Indiana in Big Ten Friday Night Hoops - OPEN THREAD

When

6:30

How

FS1

A trip to Indiana while the Gophers are in the midst of a 6-game losing streak. Indiana is not what they have been in years past, but this Gopher team isn’t exactly a juggernaut at the moment. Can they sneak out a road win in Bloomington?

KEYS TO A GOPHER WIN

• Take Care of the Ball - Indiana has been turning over Big Ten opponents around 20% of the time, good enough to be 2nd in the league. Take care of the ball so we don’t give them extra (easy) possessions. Our defense is bad enough, don’t make it easier for them to score.
• Start Washington - Why not? Put Isaiah at the point and Mason at the 2 to start with. It’s time to let Jelly loose. He hasn’t been “all-world” this year, but he’s playing well of late and there is no harm in letting the freshman learn on the court.
• Make Threes - The Hoosier defense is pretty good but the one area they struggle is in 3- point defense. In Big Ten games they are 12th in the league in 3-point defense. Remember our last win? We made 58% of our threes. We might need that again.

PREDICTION

On the road against a good defensive team, I have little confidence.

Minnesota - 78
Indiana 82