Minnesota Golden Gophers Preview

Date: Sunday, March 8th

Time: 12:00pm CST

Location: Minneapolis, MN

Record: 13-16 (7-12 Big Ten Conference)

Coach: Rick Pitino (7th Season)

Preview:

Two teams with losing records will play their final regular season games on Sunday. One is first year Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg. He is coming to the end of a fairly rough first year head coaching gig with a 7-23 record. However, he has room to grow.

On the other side of the court you have Richard Pitino who is finishing his seventh season guiding the Golden Gophers. Eight of the last ten games this year have been losses for the seasoned head coach in Minneapolis. Overall, he is 125-108 during his tenure in the Twin Cities. Last season he lead the team to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Not bad at all in this conference.

Richard's future leading the Minnesota squad is now under the microscope. He has been there long enough to put together a better record than they have had this season. Richard also has enough talent on the team to perform better than they have.

Their last three losses to Maryland, Wisconsin, & Indiana have all been by single digits which makes the situation all the more troublesome. Minnesota has a decent history in basketball. How much longer can they go with just getting by and coming just close enough? The fans and alumni are starting to stir and it is not good for Pitino. He might very well be gone by the end of the season.

The mighty Golden Gophers are lead by center Daniel Oturu. The 6’10” senior is averaging 20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocked shots per game. He’s big and athletic. Something that the Cornhuskers have had issues playing against all season. Expect a big outing from him on his last game in Williams Arena.

On the flip side is Marcus Carr. The sophomore guard brings home 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and a very nice 6.6 assists per game for Minnesota. He is going to give Nebraska issues from the get go and I would expect another high scoring outing for him.

Prediction:

Well, let’s look at facts. Nebraska is on a deep loosing streak. They have Cam Mack and Dashon Burke Jr. suspended for the game. Both of which are needed in the lineup. Also, they are guaranteed the last spot in the conference tournament so the drive to play for something is minimal.

Let’s just hope it’s not another thirty point loss. This might get ugly folks.

University of Minnesota 79 University of Nebraska 58