Gopher Basketball
| Game Info | |
| Opponent: | Iowa State Cyclones |
| When: | 7 pm, November 21st, 2006 |
| Where: | Williams Arena ““ Minneapolis, MN |
| Television: | FSN |
Minnesota’s degree of difficulty takes a big step forward Tuesday night when the Iowa State Cyclones pay a visit to The Barn (in what will hopefully become an annual border battle between the two schools). Both teams are undefeated, although both have also had pretty easy schedules up to this point, so it’s hard to know what we’re in store for.
Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:
1. Rebound. After struggles again against Long Island Friday night, rebounding is back to the top of the list. The Gophers need to outrebound a somewhat undersized Cyclone team. Controlling the defensive boards is the most important thing, but getting some second-chance points would also be nice.
2. Find a Third (and Fourth) Scorer. We can’t expect Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie to put up 20+ every game, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll be the team’s leading scorers this season. It would be very nice to see another consistent scoring threat or two emerge over the next 9 days. Spencer Tollackson (if healthy) is one possibility. Jamal Abu-Shamala has shown signs of expanding his offensive game (he’s not going to struggle shooting the ball very often like he did last game). And maybe someone from the Wilson/Payton/Westbrook trio will start looking to score more.
3. Sharpen. With four games under the belt and a big stretch upcoming, this would be a good time for Minnesota to show a clear step forward in overall sharpness. The new guys have had some time to mesh and get rid of their opening night jitters, so we need to start seeing crisper offense and less miscues.
The Gophers haven’t looked much better than average so far this year, but neither have the Cyclones. They’ve had to win ugly over the likes of UC-Riverside, Eastern Illinois, and Norfolk State, and they have yet to play on the road. For those reasons, and because my gut tells me McKenzie and Abu-Shamala are due to get hot at the same time, I like the Gophers in this one. My prediction: Minnesota 66 Iowa State 59.
Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.