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Game Preview: Gophers vs. Illinois 3/14/13 [BTT]
03/13/2013, 9:20am CDT
By J.B. Bauer
Big Ten Tourney Begins Thursday
The #9 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers (20-11) and #8 seed Illinois Fighting Illinois (21-11) meet for the third time Thursday morning at 11am CT. They'll be playing at the United Center in Chicago with television coverage by the Big Ten Network.
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238196?referrer_id=388419
Minnesota and Illinois square off for the third time this season Thursday morning. Most people believe these two teams are playing for NCAA tournament seeding, but the loser probably won’t sleep real well until brackets are announced on Sunday.
The Gophers currently have an RPI of 24. It appears that ranking would fall to around 30 and potentially lower depending on the outcome of various conference tournaments. That shouldn’t cause them to sweat too much, but even with the concept of a team’s “body of work”, a blowout loss might leave enough doubt to make fans anxious heading into the weekend.
The outcomes a reasonable person might expect for this game span an enormous range. These teams are capable of taking down the best in America. Illinois’ wins include at Gonzaga and home against Indiana and Ohio State; Minnesota has beaten Indiana, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
However, we haven’t seen these teams play very well lately. Illinois dropped their last two on the road to Iowa and Ohio State. Losing those games isn’t a cause for concern, but the way they lost is. The Illini’s shooting was dreadful and resulted in their two least offensively efficient games of the entire season.
Tubby Smith’s Gophers were feeling good after beating No. 1 Indiana at Williams Arena. However, their struggles away from the road continued (1-8 in Big Ten road games this season) as they were upset by Nebraska and Purdue to end the regular season. Purdue shot more than 14% eFG better than their season average against the Gophers and finished with a season-high 60.2 eFG%.
Illinois and Minnesota have split the season series with each team winning on the road.
GAME 1: MINNESOTA 84, ILLINOIS 67
The Illini held advantages on the offensive boards (30% to 26%) and turnovers (+8), but it didn’t matter. Illinois made just 3/24 3FG (12.5%) while the Gophers knocked down 9/15 3FG (60.0%).
For Minnesota it was their best shooting Big Ten game (61.8%) and second-highest possession conference game (70). Andre Hollins had 22 points, 8 rebounds and six assists; Trevor Mbakwe picked up a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds; Joe Coleman scored a career-high 29 points. The bench played just 31 minutes and didn’t score.
The Illini were led by Brandon Paul’s 21 points, but he made just 1/6 3FG. D.J. Richardson finished with 14 points, but only connected on 2 of 9 3-point attempts. Senior Tyler Griffey played only 17 minutes and finished with no points and only two shot attempts.
GAME 2: ILLINOIS 57, MINNESOTA 53
This game was not only slow compared to the first meeting, but also was by far Illinois’ slowest of the season (54 possessions).
The Illini struggled on their 2-point attempts (7/26 for 26.9%), but they were very good behind the arc (11/23 for 47.8%). Tyler Griffey made up for his performance the first time these two met, scoring 16 points and making 4/7 3FG.
Minnesota struggled shooting the ball (43.0% eFG% compared to 61.8% in the first game) and again lost the turnover battle (-6). The Gophers controlled the boards with an offensive rebounding edge of 47% to 23%, but Illinois’ strong 3-point shooting and few turnovers sealed Minnesota’s fate.
Joe Coleman wasn’t nearly as good in this one, scoring 3 points on 1/8 FG. Rodney Williams was out with shoulder injury and Elliott Eliason replaced him in the starting lineup. Eliason played a big role in limiting Illinois’ second chances with 9 defensive rebounds (and 10 in total to go along with 4 points).
NEUTRAL SITE GAME
The Big Ten tournament is back in Chicago at the United Center this year. Illinois regularly plays a “home game” there each season and beat Auburn there 81-79 in late December. The tournament games will have a completely different feel and unlike the Auburn game, the Illini’s game(s) this week will count as “neutral site games” for RPI calculation purposes.
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNS
In addition to bonuses for making the NCAA tournament ($100,000 for Tubby Smith & $25,000 for John Groce), both coaches can earn additional compensation if their team wins the Big Ten tournament ($250,000 for Smith; $50,000 for Groce).
Over 15 years of Big Ten tournament play the Gophers have reached the finals once (no championships). The Illini have been to the finals six times, winning twice.
BIG TEN TOURNEY ON TV
Thursday: Early session (11am CT) - BTN; Late session (5:30pm CT) - ESPN2.
Friday: Early (11am CT) - ESPN; Late (5:30pm CT) - BTN.
Saturday (12:40pm CT) - CBS Sports
Sunday (2:30pm CT) - CBS Sports
INDIANA WAITS
The winner of this game will play No. 1 seed Indiana at 11am CT on Friday morning (TV: ESPN). The Hoosiers lost two road games all season – once to Illinois and once to Minnesota.
For more charts and analysis, click here:
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238196?referrer_id=388419
03/13/2013, 9:20am CDT
By J.B. Bauer
Big Ten Tourney Begins Thursday
The #9 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers (20-11) and #8 seed Illinois Fighting Illinois (21-11) meet for the third time Thursday morning at 11am CT. They'll be playing at the United Center in Chicago with television coverage by the Big Ten Network.
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238196?referrer_id=388419
Minnesota and Illinois square off for the third time this season Thursday morning. Most people believe these two teams are playing for NCAA tournament seeding, but the loser probably won’t sleep real well until brackets are announced on Sunday.
The Gophers currently have an RPI of 24. It appears that ranking would fall to around 30 and potentially lower depending on the outcome of various conference tournaments. That shouldn’t cause them to sweat too much, but even with the concept of a team’s “body of work”, a blowout loss might leave enough doubt to make fans anxious heading into the weekend.
The outcomes a reasonable person might expect for this game span an enormous range. These teams are capable of taking down the best in America. Illinois’ wins include at Gonzaga and home against Indiana and Ohio State; Minnesota has beaten Indiana, Michigan State and Wisconsin.
However, we haven’t seen these teams play very well lately. Illinois dropped their last two on the road to Iowa and Ohio State. Losing those games isn’t a cause for concern, but the way they lost is. The Illini’s shooting was dreadful and resulted in their two least offensively efficient games of the entire season.
Tubby Smith’s Gophers were feeling good after beating No. 1 Indiana at Williams Arena. However, their struggles away from the road continued (1-8 in Big Ten road games this season) as they were upset by Nebraska and Purdue to end the regular season. Purdue shot more than 14% eFG better than their season average against the Gophers and finished with a season-high 60.2 eFG%.
Illinois and Minnesota have split the season series with each team winning on the road.
GAME 1: MINNESOTA 84, ILLINOIS 67
The Illini held advantages on the offensive boards (30% to 26%) and turnovers (+8), but it didn’t matter. Illinois made just 3/24 3FG (12.5%) while the Gophers knocked down 9/15 3FG (60.0%).
For Minnesota it was their best shooting Big Ten game (61.8%) and second-highest possession conference game (70). Andre Hollins had 22 points, 8 rebounds and six assists; Trevor Mbakwe picked up a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds; Joe Coleman scored a career-high 29 points. The bench played just 31 minutes and didn’t score.
The Illini were led by Brandon Paul’s 21 points, but he made just 1/6 3FG. D.J. Richardson finished with 14 points, but only connected on 2 of 9 3-point attempts. Senior Tyler Griffey played only 17 minutes and finished with no points and only two shot attempts.
GAME 2: ILLINOIS 57, MINNESOTA 53
This game was not only slow compared to the first meeting, but also was by far Illinois’ slowest of the season (54 possessions).
The Illini struggled on their 2-point attempts (7/26 for 26.9%), but they were very good behind the arc (11/23 for 47.8%). Tyler Griffey made up for his performance the first time these two met, scoring 16 points and making 4/7 3FG.
Minnesota struggled shooting the ball (43.0% eFG% compared to 61.8% in the first game) and again lost the turnover battle (-6). The Gophers controlled the boards with an offensive rebounding edge of 47% to 23%, but Illinois’ strong 3-point shooting and few turnovers sealed Minnesota’s fate.
Joe Coleman wasn’t nearly as good in this one, scoring 3 points on 1/8 FG. Rodney Williams was out with shoulder injury and Elliott Eliason replaced him in the starting lineup. Eliason played a big role in limiting Illinois’ second chances with 9 defensive rebounds (and 10 in total to go along with 4 points).
NEUTRAL SITE GAME
The Big Ten tournament is back in Chicago at the United Center this year. Illinois regularly plays a “home game” there each season and beat Auburn there 81-79 in late December. The tournament games will have a completely different feel and unlike the Auburn game, the Illini’s game(s) this week will count as “neutral site games” for RPI calculation purposes.
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNS
In addition to bonuses for making the NCAA tournament ($100,000 for Tubby Smith & $25,000 for John Groce), both coaches can earn additional compensation if their team wins the Big Ten tournament ($250,000 for Smith; $50,000 for Groce).
Over 15 years of Big Ten tournament play the Gophers have reached the finals once (no championships). The Illini have been to the finals six times, winning twice.
BIG TEN TOURNEY ON TV
Thursday: Early session (11am CT) - BTN; Late session (5:30pm CT) - ESPN2.
Friday: Early (11am CT) - ESPN; Late (5:30pm CT) - BTN.
Saturday (12:40pm CT) - CBS Sports
Sunday (2:30pm CT) - CBS Sports
INDIANA WAITS
The winner of this game will play No. 1 seed Indiana at 11am CT on Friday morning (TV: ESPN). The Hoosiers lost two road games all season – once to Illinois and once to Minnesota.
For more charts and analysis, click here:
http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/238196?referrer_id=388419