Minnesota Basketball OPEN THREAD: Gophers and Hoosiers at The Barn for Big Ten hoops

Where

The Barn

When

8:00 PM

How

BTN

Who

Indiana

The Gophers, losers of four of their last five games, are facing an important Big Ten game with Indiana coming to The Barn. Home games are critical now for Minnesota. Indiana, having lost five of their last six, also desperately need this win.

Who will come out on top tonight?

KEYS TO A GOPHER WIN

Control the Boards - Indiana does well when they hit the offensive glass. More than just Daniel Oturu needs to be a part of the rebounding effort.

Trace Jackson-Davis - I’m very nervous about this matchup. Jackson-Davis is a freshman forward for the Hoosiers who is really very talented. Alihan Demir defending him is not a good matchup for us. He needs to be contained. Getting 12-14 is fine, but he can’t go off for 22 and 12 rebounds.

Don’t Shoot Any Threes - Let’s try something new. We are really bad at making threes. If we are the worst team in the Big Ten at making threes, then lets not attempt so many. I know, I know that we don’t exactly have guys outside of Carr who can get to the rim. And the entire world knows that Oturu is going to get touches inside.

PREDICTION

We have been struggling, so has Indiana. But I’m almost always going to go with the home team till the end of the season. I think Minnesota wins and gets back on track. Hopefully this is a momentum building win as they Gophers absolutely have to start winning to get back into the NCAA Tournament conversation.

Minnesota - 66
Indiana - 63