Defensive struggles hamper Gophers and Nebraska entering matchup in Lincoln
Pregame: The Gophers and Huskers enter Wednesday as two of the Big Ten's worst defensive basketball teams.
By Marcus Fuller Star Tribune
FEBRUARY 9, 2022 — 5:59PM
CHARLIE NEIBERGALL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iowa forward Kris Murray, center, fights for a rebound with Minnesota guard E.J. Stephens (20) and guard Sean Sutherlin, right, during game Feb. 6, 2022, in Iowa City.
GOPHERS MEN'S HOOPS AT NEBRASKA
FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:
Struggling defenses collide
Safe to say that a big reason the Gophers and Nebraska are sitting at the bottom of the Big Ten standings entering Wednesday's matchup is on their respective struggles defensively this season.
In Sunday's 71-59 loss at Iowa, the Gophers allowed the Hawkeyes to shoot 51.6% in the second half, but the lack of toughness was what frustrated their head coach.
"I'm more concerned just with our defense in the last 20 minutes," Gophers coach Ben Johnson said Sunday. "That's one of those deals where we talked about playing with force, physicality and being the aggressor. Credit to Iowa, but we played on our heels the last 20 minutes."
During the Gophers' 10-1 start under Ben Johnson they held opponents to 63.1 points per game, 24.8% shooting from three-point range, and 41% shooting from the field. Obviously, the competition wasn't outstanding as a whole, but they did have wins against Western Kentucky, Princeton, Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Mississippi State.
Since then, the Gophers are 1-8 with opponents scoring 74 points per game, shooting 37.1% from three-point range and 47.6% from the field.
Not surprisingly, Minnesota ranks 13th in scoring defense (73.3) in 11 Big Ten games, only ahead of Nebraska's 82.3 points per game allowed to conference opponents.
The Cornhuskers have lost 12 straight to open Big Ten play this season, but they're actually slightly ahead of the Gophers ranked 13th in field goal percentage defense (47.4) in league games. Again, Johnson's team hasn't been able to pull out many Big Ten games with opponents shooting 47.6% from the floor.
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Nebraska's three-point defense is also worst in the Big Ten in league play at 38.7%, but the Gophers are not much better at 36.5%. They're just ahead of Northwestern (36.8).
Frontcourt production
The Gophers are a perimeter-oriented team, but they'll need more frontcourt production to stop the recent slide.
Charlie Daniels started four games for fellow 6-9 senior Eric Curry, who is still not 100% recovered from an ankle injury suffered last month.
Curry, who had eight points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes Sunday at Iowa, was averaging nearly 11 points per game in Big Ten play before the injury, which included 18 and 19 points against Michigan State.
The Gophers returned Curry to the starting lineup in the last game against the Hawkeyes, but they're still trying to figure out how to help him get back to form.
In his absence, freshman Treyton Thompson averaged seven points per game in 68 minutes combined, including a career-best 10 points in 40 minutes in the Jan. 22 win against Rutgers. Since Curry's return, the 7-foot Thompson has five points and two rebounds in 30 minutes combined in three games.
Daniels also has as many fouls (4) as points and rebounds in a combined 19 minutes in the last two games.
The Huskers have most of their offensive firepower on the perimeter with freshman Bryce McGowen leading them in scoring with 16.7 points per game, but their frontcourt is deeper than the Gophers.
Starters Derrick Walker Jr. and Lat Mayen are combining to average 14.5 points and 9.7 rebounds this season.
Rebounding margin
The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-3.6) last season under Richard Pitino – and they're even worse in Johnson's first year.
The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-6.1) overall and 354th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (18.9), per Kenpom.
Johnson's philosophy is to give up crashing the offensive boards to hustle back for transition defense, so that can skew the offensive rebounding numbers (league-worst 6.5 per game).
In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been significant at minus-9.3, second-to-last in the conference. Only Nebraska is worse at minus-10.1.
In a loss to the Buckeyes last month, the Gophers were outrebounded 48-22, which included 27 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. That was the most offensive rebounds allowed since Iowa had 27 in a double overtime at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.
Curry's return has helped the Gophers compete better on the glass by barely getting beat overall in rebounding in losses at Wisconsin (33-32) and at Iowa (40-38).
Three-point threats
Last season, the Gophers shot a program-low 28.4% from three, but they've made a jump to 36.4% this season, ranked fifth in the Big Ten overall.
The Gophers are shooting a little different at 35% from beyond the arc in Big Ten games, but that still is good for fifth in the league. Their best game was 13-for-24 from long distance against Rutgers.
Gophers senior guard Payton Willis, who had 32 points and tied a school-record with eight threes against the Scarlet Knights on Jan. 22, leads the Big Ten in three-point accuracy overall at 43.1%. Jamison Battle, the U's leading scorer at 16.9 points, shoots 35.9% from three overall, but he's down to 29% in the last four games.
E.J. Stephens, who had a season-high 22 points in a home Jan. 16 home loss to Iowa, is shooting 37.1% from deep this season.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was one of the top shooters in college basketball when he played for Iowa State in the 1990s. The Huskers have a few three-point threats with Alonzo Verge Jr., C.J. Wilcher, and Kelsei Tominaga, but they rank last in the Big Ten in three-point percentage overall (30.6).
GAME INFO
Time: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday.
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Line: Minnesota 3.5-point favorite.
Series: Minnesota leads the series 54-21 but dropped the last game 78-74 in Lincoln on Feb. 27, 2021.
TV: BTN.
Online/Live video: BTN-plus.
Radio: 100.3 KFAN
PROJECTED STARTERS
MINNESOTA GOPHERS (11-9, 2-9 in conference)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Payton Willis 6-4 195 Sr. 16.7
G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 11.2
G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 8.1
F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 16.9
F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.3
Key reserves– Sean Sutherlin, G/F, 6-5, Sr., 6.6 ppg; Charlie Daniels, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.8 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.4 ppg.
Coach: Ben Johnson 11-9 (1st season)
Notable: All nine of Minnesota's losses have been against teams in the NET's top 30, including six games against currently ranked opponents. … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen are sidelined indefinitely after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, is nine months recovered and could be cleared to practice soon. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (6-17, 0-12)
Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG
G – Alonzo Verge Jr. 6-3 164 Sr. 13.6
G – Trey McGowens 6-4 196 Jr. 6.6
F – Bryce McGowens 6-7 179 Fr. 16.7
F – Lat Mayen 6-9 217 Jr. 5.2
F – Derrick Walker Jr. 6-9 239 Jr. 9.3
Reserves – C.J. Wilcher, G, 6-6, Fr., 7.9 ppg; Eduardo Andre, C, 6-11, Fr., 3.2 ppg; Kobe Webster, G, 6-0, Sr., 6.0 ppg; Kelsei Tominaga, G, 6-2, So., 6.8 ppg, Keon Edwards, G, 6-7, Fr., 6.4 ppg.
Coach: Fred Hoiberg 135-118 (8th season)
Notable: The Huskers have 10 straight losses since a Dec. 22 victory against Kennesaw State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. They suffered an 87-63 Saturday against Northwestern at home, which included trailing the Wildcats by 35 points. Hoiberg has only two wins in his past 22 Big Ten games dating back to last season, but one of them was against the Gophers 78-74 last year in Lincoln.
Fuller's score prediction (Picks record: 15-5): Gophers 70, Nebraska 67
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Pregame: The Gophers and Huskers enter Wednesday as two of the Big Ten's worst defensive basketball teams.
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