The No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday night at Williams Arena, giving UW a chance to make up for their earlier loss to their border rivals in early January at the Kohl Center.
To get the inside scoop on the Gophers and how their season has played out since the two teams last met BadgerBlitz.com spoke with E.J. Stevens of The Gopher Report - our questions for him and his answers are included below.
Can you give me a run-down of how Minnesota's season has played out since these two teams last met in early January? From an outsider's perspective I see a few confusing results - a few close losses to good teams and wins over bad teams.
EJ Stevens: Since beating Wisconsin on Jan. 3, Minnesota has had a mixed bag of results, going 4-4 in Big Ten play. After leading by six points at halftime against Maryland the next game, the Gophers struggled to get stops late and suffered through a miserable 8-22 night from the free throw line in a 15-point loss. Since then, they played well in a blowout win over Rutgers, played terrible in a 27-point loss to Illinois, then were a buzzer beater away from losing to Penn State at home.Minnesota held No. 5 Michigan to 33 percent shooting from the field in Ann Arbor and had a chance to win late before losing on a buzzer beater.
An explosive offensive performance against No. 20 Iowa showed how good this team can be, with Coffey, Murphy and Kalscheur combining for 65 points. A business-like revenge win over Illinois was nice to see, but then the Gophers couldn't build off of it and fell to Purdue by ten points at Mackey Arena. Minnesota was rolling and up 47-34 in the second half, but they quickly let that lead slip and had another poor showing offensively late in that one. Minnesota's results have been very confusing. They have three top-25 wins and a neutral site win over Washington on the resume, but have lost big to a couple mediocre teams and have struggled on the road this year. This team is more than talented enough to play in the NCAA Tournament and earn a decent seed, it just needs to put it all together and play consistent team basketball.
Has there been a consistent theme for this Minnesota team? When they perform well is there one major reason why?
EJ Stevens: When the Gophers perform well, they are moving the ball and Amir Coffey is on his game. The Gophers shot 57 percent from the field and had 25 assists on 32 made shots against Iowa, with Coffey and Murphy leading the way with 23 points apiece. They get looks in the paint and hit a respectable percentage from three. When the Gophers are getting looks inside, that opens things up for inside out play, and that's when guards Gabe Kalscheur and Dupree McBrayer can capitalize on open looks rom three.
What's one under-rated storyline about the Gophers this year? Something you have noticed about them that doesn't get enough attention?
EJ Stevens: I think an under-rated storyline has been the play of freshman center Daniel Oturu. He's averaging 10.7 ppg and 7.3 reb. in 27 minutes per game and it doesn't feel like he's gotten the attention he may deserve. He was a top-40 recruit coming out of high school and so far he has lived up to the billing in maroon and gold. He still has his freshman moments where he picks up a dumb foul or turns it over by trying to dribble in traffic, but man is he going to be a great player in the Big Ten. He's a guy that will be an instrumental part of Minnesota's success in the near future.
Is it safe to say the Gophers are in good shape for the NCAA tournament at this point? What are the major wins they can point to on their resume at the moment?
EJ Stevens: I touched on this previously, but the team's best wins are on a neutral floor against Pac-12 leader Washington (undefeated in conference play), a home win against No. 20 Iowa and a road victory at the Kohl Center against No. 19 Wisconsin. Right now, the Gophers are considered as a team that's in as between a 7-9 seed in multiple Bracketology projections I have seen. Minnesota is in the midst of a tough stretch of games right now with Wisconsin tomorrow and Michigan State on the road Saturday. Those are two quality win opportunities for Minnesota to continue to build that NCAA Tournament resume.
How do you see this game playing out? Who wins and why?
EJ Stevens: It's hard to know which team will show up for Minnesota. I could see this game going either way. I'll take the Gophers in a close game, 69-68.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
