GAME #25: Gophers (16-8, 5-6) @ #21 wisconsin (19-5, 6-5) [ESPN, 2/13, 8:00PM]

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MadtownGopher said:
Yeah, he hasn't been terrible lately but definitely not as good as he was earlier in the conference schedule. He needs to rebound and play good D and try not to shoot if it isn't a lay up.
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There ya go.
 



I'm going to the game so I hope it's at least competitive. Getting blown out would not be fun for me since I'm going with Badger fans.
 

From ESPN's Daily Word. Clearly Myron didn't expect us to do much this year.

1. Who needs Thursday's win more, Minnesota or Wisconsin?

Andy Katz: Minnesota clearly needs it more if it wants to make the NCAA tournament. But the Badgers have more of a shot of being a factor in March, and another home loss would seem almost inexplicable. For the team's confidence and to truly believe it has a shot to do something more in March, the Badgers need this game badly.

Myron Medcalf: Wisconsin, and it's not close. Anything Richard Pitino does the rest of the way is just icing in Year 1. But Wisconsin entered this season as a contender, and it has to finish strong to get a favorable seed and maintain Bo Ryan's streak of top-four finishes in the Big Ten.

C.L. Brown: Minnesota. I believe the Gophers are a lock for the NCAA tournament as long as they finish .500 in the Big Ten. A loss would put them two games under with a tough schedule ahead that includes road games at Ohio State and Michigan and at home against Iowa.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/dailyword140213/daily-word
 


Gotta love Myron saying "Wisconsin, and it's not close" when the other two analysts said Minnesota.
 

My son and I are going (live in Madison). Last game at the Kohl Center we went to, Westbrook and the Gophers stunned the Badgers in overtime. Not expecting a win, but certainly within the realm of possibility. If the Gophers hang close like they did at MSU and Purdue, they need to find a way to win, even if the refs (as expected) are against them.
 

It would sure be nice to get Wisconsin in foul trouble early again.
 

tmvander said:
It would sure be nice to get Wisconsin in foul trouble early again.
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The funny thing is only Kaminsky got in foul trouble and only in the first half, otherwise they barely had any fouls called against them.
 





Preview of tonight's game "from the Other side"

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/badge...245304501.html


By Jeff Potrykus of the Journal Sentinel
Madison — Asked to reflect upon Wisconsin's loss last month at Minnesota, freshman Nigel Hayes showed once more he has a high basketball IQ and a sharp memory.

"Just how poorly we played defensively," Hayes said.

UW's defensive execution in the 81-68 loss was abysmal, arguably the team's worst of the season.

And with UW (19-5, 6-5 Big Ten) set to host Minnesota (16-8, 5-6) at 8 p.m. Thursday, the No. 1 topic of discussion this week has been whether Bo Ryan's team is better prepared to slow the Gophers.

The Gophers, fourth in the Big Ten in scoring at 74.2 points per game, feature four players averaging double figures and four more averaging at least 6.1 points per game.

Minnesota's odd couple — center Maurice Walker, 6 feet 10 inches and 250 pounds, and guard DeAndre Mathieu, 5-9 and 165 — made UW look silly in the first meeting.

Walker entered the night averaging 4.9 points per game with a college high of 11 points. He surpassed that with 12 points just 9 minutes 57 seconds into the game and finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes.

UW center Frank Kaminsky picked up two fouls less than 3 minutes into the game and sat the rest of the half. Hayes picked up two fouls and played 13 minutes in the half. That led Ryan to use Zach Bohannon and Vitto Brown for 2 minutes apiece in the half and neither could slow Walker.

"We didn't do a good job being physical enough," UW associate head coach Greg Gard said. "Obviously Frank got a couple fouls and so did Nigel so it threw our rotation off a little bit.

"And he played definitely very aggressive. They imposed their will on us."

Walker was limited to four points in the second half — all on free throws — but Mathieu responded by hitting 6 of 10 shots and scoring 13 of his 18 points as the Gophers shot 57.1% from three-point range (4 of 7) and 58.9% overall (33 of 56). Both remain season-high marks for a UW opponent.

Whereas Walker camped out near the basket and used his size and strength to score six times in the lane, Mathieu used his quickness to hit 4 of 6 shots in the lane in the second half.

"When you have good guard play you can control tempo and control a game," Gard said, "and that's what they were able to do with Mathieu down the stretch."

Walker was the catalyst. His 18-point performance against UW remains his No. 1 mark and sparked a stellar streak. In Minnesota's last five games, Walker is averaging 14.2 points and shooting 60% (30 of 50).

"Mo is settling in to be one of the tougher guys to guard on the block in this conference," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said. "He's so big and wide and has great confidence right now....

"He gives us great confidence. We're looking for him more."

Walker did to UW what Hayes has done recently to UW foes. When Walker got the ball close to the basket with time to work, he generally either scored or was fouled.

"We have to do a better job fronting him because of his size," said Hayes, 6-7 and 250. "He is 6-10 and about 260 and if he catches the ball and we're behind him you can pretty much hang it up. We have to do a better job making his catches tough.

"He just has a lot of mass and he knows how to use it. He seals great, so that's why we have to get around him as best we can."

UW will need Kaminsky, 7-0 and 234, to avoid foul trouble this time.

"He (was) just bigger than everyone," Kaminsky said, referring to the first half of the first meeting. "He had no real height going against him. You saw some plays where they defended it well. He was just taller and got over the top of people.

"He got some easy buckets and it got him going. And when any player gets confidence like that it is just going to keep piling on."


Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/badge...#ixzz2tETCxkPY
Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter
 

Buggs probably will see action tonight if Bo is doing his usual work on the offiicals! That means EE and Big Mo both will have 2 fouls in the first half and be sitting.

Hope that is not the case though.
 



We need Mo to have a big game and get Kaminsky in foul trouble again and we will have good shot at winning this one in Madison.
 

GopherCountry said:
Buggs probably will see action tonight if Bo is doing his usual work on the offiicals! That means EE and Big Mo both will have 2 fouls in the first half and be sitting.

Hope that is not the case though.
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EE would get two fouls in 10 minutes in street ball with no officials.
 

Something not being talked a lot about that I've seen ... Andre's back. He's had some great games against Wisconsin and they at least have to pay attention to him defensively.
 

BleedGopher said:
Fox Sports: Badgers plan to crank up defense versus rival Gophers The Gophers are the only team this season to score at least 80 points against the Badgers, who haven't forgotten how porous their defense was that night. "They killed us on ball screens," said Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky, who played only 15 minutes in that game because of foul trouble. "That was kind of our weakness for a couple games. I think we really cleaned that up a little bit, game by game. If you see, teams really haven't been getting to rim on us off ball screens like they were, especially in the Indiana and Minnesota games." http://msn.foxsports.com/wisconsin/story/badgers-plan-to-crank-up-defense-versus-rival-gophers-021114 Go Gophers!!
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Here's the think Kaminsky. Those other teams you "did better against" have no one as quick as a certain Gophers PG.
 

AZGopher said:
We need Mo to have a big game and get Kaminsky in foul trouble again and we will have good shot at winning this one in Madison.
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IMO, more Kaminsky means more Dre dribble drives. Screen and roll with Mo all day. Kaminsky is sloooooowwwwwwwwwwwww.

The days of Jared Berggren are over. Kaminsky is a really effective offensive player, but has no paint presence and doesn't move well laterally. The more we can force him to play defense against a driving guard the better. Whether at the rim or outside. That's why the screen and roll killed them last time.

Nigel Hayes and Dekker are my concerns. Dekker is ridiculous and Hayes is awesome. Just have to attack their weaknesses. Dekker is slow too and Hayes is short.

I think this is the Gophers best chance to win of their "difficult" games left. At OSU is always tough, Iowa is very very good. Michigan is playing much better.

Wisconsin's weakness is our strength. Need to really exploit that.
 




I'll be at work to the game, but hopefully the TV will be on in the newsroom.
 

Expecting the Badgers to win by 10-12, but hopefully I'm wrong. Heading to State Street bars now. See you guys after. #SkiUMah
 


The badger defense will make even dre Hollins look fast... Remember how easily Malik got to the rack last time??? It's hunting season boys, this badger team is a paper tiger! Get'm richie!!!! Only thing that stops us is home cooking or rediculous shooting,...
 

Winasota Gopher said:
The badger defense will make even dre Hollins look fast... Remember how easily Malik got to the rack last time??? It's hunting season boys, this badger team is a paper tiger! Get'm richie!!!! Only thing that stops us is home cooking or rediculous shooting,...
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Home cooking and great shooting is what they do well at the kohl center
 

I love Mathieu, but it'd be really fun to watch Nolen turn over Jackson 7 times tonight.

Jim's son is bad.

Gophers 68
Badgers 64
 

Unfortunately, this Mizzou and Arkansas game looks like it'll go past 8 pm... I still don't understand why they don't schedule 2.5 hours apart.
 

So the Arkansas-Mizzou game on ESPN is going to go way past 8. Cue up WatchESPN I guess. Ugh.
 

Looks like the start time might be 8:10. Still won't be done in time though.
 

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