What to Expect: Indiana at Minnesota
Indiana hits the road Wednesday evening to take on Minnesota at Williams Arena. The Golden Gophers are 18-11 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers won the first matchup 74-62 in Bloomington on Jan. 12.
Wednesday’s game is set for a 9 p.m. ET tip on BTN:
Indiana enters Wednesday’s game at Minnesota on a two-game winning streak, its first since December.
The Hoosiers beat Wisconsin at home last Tuesday before erasing a 16-point second-half deficit at Maryland on Sunday to complete the season sweep of the Terrapins.
Indiana will now try for a season sweep of the Golden Gophers, who have won five straight games at home. A victory for Minnesota would clinch at least a .500 record in Big Ten play, a significant feat for Ben Johnson, who entered the season on the hot seat.
THE FIRST MATCHUP
Indiana came out hot in the first meeting between the two teams in Bloomington. The Hoosiers led 11-2 early and led by as many as 21 points in the second half before settling for a comfortable 12-point victory.
Minnesota shot a dreadful 3-for-20 on 3s as the Hoosiers kept pressure on its guards all game.
It was, at the time, freshman Mackenzie Mgbako’s best performance to date in an IU uniform. The freshman from Gladstone, New Jersey, was more aggressive than usual in attacking the rim. Mgbako attempted seven free throws in the win and connected on five.
Mgbako’s 19 points were a team-high and he logged 34 minutes, a career-high at the time. Mgbako’s defense was solid enough that Mike Woodson felt comfortable giving him an extended run, which was different in earlier games.
With the duo of Gabe Cupps and Xavier Johnson struggling, Trey Galloway put together a stellar all-around performance.
Cupps and Johnson scored only two points and had a total of two assists in 47 minutes, which put pressure on Galloway to perform. And he did.
Galloway had a team-high seven assists, shot 4-for-5 from the field and had four steals. He finished with 10 points in 25 minutes.
Several of Minnesota’s top players – Elijah Hawkins, Cam Christie and Mike Mitchell – had games to forget. Hawkins shot a dismal 2-for-12 from the field in 36 minutes. Christie was just 2-for-10 from the field. And Mitchell, a transfer from Pepperdine, shot 0-for-6 and went scoreless in 20 minutes.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
All stats in the graphic below are via KenPom.com, are updated through Monday’s games and are for conference games only.
The Gophers have won six of their last 10 games and five of those victories have come at Williams Arena. The home wins in that stretch for Minnesota: Northwestern, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State and Penn State by an average of 7.4 points. In four of the five games, Minnesota scored at least 75 points.
Minnesota takes – and makes – a lot of 3-pointers. The Gophers rank second in the Big Ten in 3PA/FGA at 38.7 percent and fourth in the conference in point distribution from 3s at 31.2 percent. Minnesota is shooting 35.6 percent from distance in conference play, the sixth best mark in the league.
Two other strengths for Minnesota are its offensive rebounding and ability to get to the foul line. The Gophers rank fifth in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding percentage and third in free throw rate (FTA/FGA). Minnesota does struggle to convert at the line with just a 69.1 percent mark in Big Ten play.
Defensively, the Gophers rank just 12th in the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage (32.1) and 10th in opponent free throw rate at 36 percent. The Hoosiers got to the line and converted at Maryland and will need to do so again on Wednesday night to emerge victorious.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
The KenPom projection is Minnesota by six with a 29 percent chance of a Hoosier victory.
The Golden Gophers are the only Big Ten program who haven’t beaten Indiana under Mike Woodson, although one of IU’s four wins came with Yasir Rosemond on the sidelines.
Minnesota has lost three home games – Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin – but were a perfect 4-0 at Williams Arena last month and started out March with a 75-70 win against Penn State on Saturday.
The Hoosiers are going to need another strong effort out of Xavier Johnson, who played well at Maryland, to find success again on the road. And Mgbako, who played well in the first matchup against Minnesota and is coming off his best game of the season, will need to again win his matchup and score efficiently.
With the NCAA tournament a long shot, Indiana is playing for Big Ten tournament seeding and also trying to avoid a sub .500 Big Ten record for the second time in three seasons under Woodson.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Minnesota Golden Gophers