Minnesota Basketball: Three Keys to a win over Mississippi State

Starkville

1:00 PM

ESPNU

Mississippi State

Mississippi State

Mascot: Bulldogs
Conference: SEC
Record: 6-1
KenPom Rank: #43

Ben Howland leads the Bulldogs who are off to a good start. When he has had good teams over the years they were known for being very good defensively. And so far this is one of the best defensive teams Howland has had at Mississippi State.

Can the Gophers come out of Starkville with a win?

KEYS TO A GOPHER WIN

Flip some script - If things play out relatively as expected, the Gophers are unlikely to win this game. Something is going to have to be different. Something like offensive rebounding, which we are quite terrible at. Or perhaps forcing an inordinate amount of turnovers. Maybe it means we have to shoot threes at a really high percentage.

Shut down their threes - Mississippi State isn’t amazingly good at shooting threes but they are good at it. Their lone loss of the season came at the hands of Louisville when they shot 1/15 from three.

Iverson Molinar concerns me - Been a very consistent scorer this year for the Bulldogs at nearly 16 points per game. A career 40% shooter from three who has struggled a little this year but is still finding ways to score and distribute the ball. Slowing Molinar is a major key this afternoon.

PREDICTION

I’ve been very much enjoying the start to the season for the Gophers, but this one is going to be tough for them to win. The Gophers on the offensive end have struggled the last 2 games. I expect that to continue and Minnesota’s first loss.

Minnesota - 62
Mississippi State - 68