Gophers head to Lincoln, can they sweep the Cornhuskers?
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Lincoln
5:30 PM
BTN
Nebraska
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Record: 19-8 (9-7)
KenPom Rank: 38
The win over Nebraska in December was the first, big win of the season for the Gophers. And the Gophers have only been getting better.
But Nebraska is a good club with a lot of analytics to back it up. They are coming into this game with a 3-game win streak, all by double digits.
Can the Gophers get another Big Ten road win and run their streak to 3?
KEYS TO A GOPHER WIN
Rebound – Nebraska is good in a number of areas, but rebounding is not one of them. In Big Ten games only they rank 11th in defensive rebounding % and 14th in offensive %. Minnesota isn’t great, especially defensive rebounding, but this is an opportunity to find an advantage. This is important.
Get Garcia going – Dawson only played 7 minutes in the first game, getting injured in the first half. Josh Ola-Joseph had maybe his best game of the season scoring 15 and getting 5 offensive rebounds, but he’s unlikely to get many minutes tomorrow. Keeping Garcia hot and forcing Nebraska to stop him will be big.
Get to their shooters – Braedan Carrington played great (GREAT) defense on Keisei Tominaga in the first game, we need to see that again while also getting to all of their shooters. Nebraska is a good three-point shooting team and then once they stretch you out, they find ways to get easy baskets. Do not let their shooters get rolling.
PREDICTION
The Gophers have a VERY slip margin for error if they want to make the NCAA Tournament and this game would be a huge boost. This is a Quad 1 opportunity against a team we can beat.
Beating Nebraska on the road is no easy challenge, we have always struggled at Pinnacle Arena. But really, this Gopher team is playing great. We are playing with the good teams and really controlling games against everyone else. They are 5-2 in their last 7 games and really should be 6-1, but we don’t have to talk about that Iowa game.
I’m very high on this team and how they are playing right now. No doubt this will not be an easy game, but I’m bullish on Ben Johnson’s Gophers.
Minnesota – 71
Nebraska – 67