Minnesota Preview

All of the games today are matchups of teams that only met once this season. Michigan beat Minnesota early in the year, in the 2nd game of the B1G schedule. The Wolverines controlled most of the game, but the Gophers made a run at the end of the game to make things interesting.  Hardaway made one shot all day, and it was the one that put the game away.

Since that time, Michigan went on to be conference champions and Minnesota struggled without their best player (Mbakwe).  They stumbled to the 10 seed in the conference, only ahead of PSU and Nebraska.  Their only shot at making the NCAA tourney is to win the conference tournament Sunday.  They began last night with an improbable win against Northwestern. I dont know if NW was looking forward to a rematch with Michigan to get their first NCAA bid ever, but they could never close out the Gophers and Minnesota was able to pull out an OT win for the first upset this weekend.

Minnesota is currently without one of their better players, Ralp Samson III. He was cleared to play yesterday, but didnt register any contributions to the win.  They relied on an unusual hot shooting day from the 3 point line which I would be surprised to see happen again.  Without Sampson, they do not have a very strong interior game.  They have a couple athletic Hollins guys, and a high jumping Rodney Williams.  As any Tubby Smith coached team, they want to force turnovers and get into the transition game. 

Minnesota will likely switch into some 2-3 zone during the game to lure us into shooting 30+ threes again, but Michigan should have an advantage in the middle which they need to exploit. Look for Hardaway attacking the interior or a more focused attitude in getting Morgan the ball.  Minnesota will struggle to defend Burke, which means they will have a hard time defending the pick and roll, which is our offense.

Defensively, Michigan will not be forced out of their standard man to man for most of the night.  Rodney Williams will be a tough matchup, likely for Novak.  Other than that, Minnesota has just an average offense. It might be a long night if they sniff 70 points.

I was more worried about this game thinking we would have to play Northwestern again, and although we might have a dud of a game, if we just play average we should win and advance to Saturday.  I think we have more to play for than the Gophers. Michigan 63 Minnesota 55.

Go Blue!