Minnesota Basketball: Three keys to beating #23 Mississippi State and how to watch

Last year Ben Johnson’s Gophers were playing above their heads and upset Mississippi State in Starkville. Can they sweep this home-and-home?

Western Michigan

Mascot: Bulldogs
Record: 8-0
KenPom Rank: 27

Easily the toughest non-conference opponent the Gophers will face this season and a team that is capable of making a run to the 2nd weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Can the Gophers beat the Bulldogs again this year?

KEYS TO A GOPHER WIN

Find some offense! - Find a lot of offense! Scoring has been a struggle and this team just hasn’t yet found a flow together. LIkely other than scoring from three, as MSU is very good at defending the three.

BOX OUT - MSU is very good at offensive rebounding and this is going to be a major problem. This could be a MAJOR problem. The Bulldogs are #1 in the country in offensive rebounding percentage, getting 40% of their own misses.

No turnovers - Also, could be a major problem. We have struggled with turnovers and the Bulldogs force a lot.

PREDICTION

There are just a lot of really bad matchups here for the Gophers. This may not be pretty. The real chance here is if MSU comes in without much fire, misses a ton of shots and the Gophers find ways to hang around in a low scoring game.

Minnesota - 62
Mississippi State - 77