Minnesota Preview

Date: Tuesday, February 6th

Time: 8:00pm CST

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Last meeting: Nebraska 78 Minnesota 62 in Lincoln on December 5th, 2017

Current Record: 14-11 (3-9 Big Ten) 10-4 at home

We last saw the Golden Gophers as they were defeated by our Huskers in Lincoln 78-68 back on December 5th. Until then, they were having a fairly good season with their only loss to a then #10 Miami.

Since the loss to Nebraska they have gone 6-9. All nine of those losses have been to Big Ten teams. Their only wins have been to Rutgers, Illinois, and Penn State. The latter in overtime. There is no way around it, this team is a long way off from the stellar run last year.

They most recently were blown out against Iowa 94-80 in Iowa City. A bit of an ugly game from two teams fighting for any sense of Big Ten relevancy this season. They did however take Michigan into overtime on Saturday but were not able to hold on to the win in the end. Most of that was due to Michigan’s poor shooting than Minnesota’s improvement as a team.

A lot of that overtime drive was laid upon freshman Isaiah Washington who had 26 points against the Wolverines. In fact, it was so impressive that he garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for his play. Not bad for a guy playing on a team that hasn’t won since the middle of January. Also not bad for a freshman who’s play has been a bit of a roller coaster all season. He has been fairly inconsistent for most of the year. For example, he had back to back no score games against Penn State and Maryland just a few weeks ago.

Sophomore guard Amir Coffee has been out the past two games and looks to be out against Nebraska on Tuesday. His right shoulder injury seems to hinder his play and Pitino is not going to derail his recovery by playing him. This would be nice for the Huskers as he put up 17 points in the loss to Nebraska.

Senior center Reggie Lynch is also out and hasn’t played in 8 games. While he was not a a major threat the last time he saw Nebraska he is a big hole in their system that has yet to be filled by one of the underclassmen.

Nate Mason and Jordan Murphy are still putting up nice numbers. Both put up double digit number against the Huskers and I would expect them to do the same in Minneapolis.

As a whole, this Minnesota team is still struggling a bit. Though, they have played fairly well at home this season and the Huskers seem to struggle a bit on the road. However, I think the lack of defense with Minnesota along with the Huskers playing some of their best ball of the season will give the Big Red a much needed win on the road.

University of Nebraska 71 University of Minnesota 60