Preview: Gophers vs. Lipscomb

This is it – the final tune-up. Just one cupcake before heading off to face a solid field in the Great Alaska Shootout Thanksgiving weekend and then hosting Florida State the following week. That makes this a more-important-than-usual home opener. Because while I’ve been pleased with the Gophers’ play in the two exhibition games, they clearly weren’t yet ready for primetime. Sunday will be their last day to get ready.

Getting ready doesn’t mean being perfect. There will be a number of easier opponents after Florida State where Minnesota can strive for perfection. Getting ready on Sunday means finding some core lineups and making a step-change on the offensive end. The offense was pretty ragged in the first 20 minutes against St. Cloud State. The Huskies did play active, aggressive defense, but the Gophers will certainly face tougher over the next 10 days. They need to get to the point where guys know what to do and when to do it – even if they don’t always do it right. With a week of practice since the last exhibition, we should see significant progress.

The results are going to have to be judged by observation rather than the final score, because this doesn’t figure to be a contest. Lipscomb was only 4-16 in the Atlantic Sun Conference a year ago (their first year in the conference after moving up from NAIA to NCAA Division I), and they lost 3 starters and 5 letterwinners from that squad. Those departures will force the Bisons to rely heavily on several newcomers this year, most notably center Shaun Durant and point guard Labrian Lyons. The 6’8″, 250-lb Durant is a junior college transfer and London native, and Lyons is a 6’3″ freshman from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The Bisons are fortunate to have two major offensive weapons back from a year ago. 6’2″ guard Brian Fisk made the all-freshman team with averages of 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. And junior guard James Poindexter put up 11 points per game. The final member of the starting lineup is expected to be senior forward Matt Jarboe, who made all four of his 3-point attempts in Lipscomb’s 87-73 victory over Freed-Hardeman earlier this week.

Lipscomb does have some decent size inside with Durant and the 230-lb Jarboe, but expect most of their scoring to come from the backcourt. They made 10 of 21 three-pointers against Freed-Hardeman, and Fisk, Poindexter, and Lyons (who had 7 assists) all like to put the ball on the floor.

Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:

1. Even More Boardin’. The Gophers’ rebounding has been decent so far, but it can get better. With the athletic and aggressive players they’ve added, I think it can become a team strength. I want to see the Gophers go into this game with the mindset of absolutely dominating the glass. And then of course I want them to actually do it. The return to health of J’son Stamper should help set the tone.

2. Dictate on Offense. Minnesota had some struggles against St. Cloud State’s pressure defense. Rather than taking advantage of their overplay, the Gophers backed off and got sloppy. The Bisons will probably be a step down defensively, but the Gophers still need to take advantage of their advantages (size, skill, athleticism) to do what they want to do on the offensive end. Feed the post, set screens, move without the ball, and get out in transition.

3. Learn. We’re watching a young team early in its development. Hopefully the players realize that, too. There are going to be mistakes, and they have to learn from them rather than dwell on them. Hopefully they’ve learned lessons from the two exhibitions, and hopefully they’ll be looking for more lessons in this one.

I think everybody who’s been at the exhibition games would echo my thoughts in saying that this has been a fun Gopher team to watch so far, and it’s one I’m excited to go see as much as possible. That’s a nice feeling, and hopefully it’s one that will spread throughout the fan base. This team has given no reason not to cheer for them so far, and I don’t see that changing on Sunday. My prediction: Minnesota 88 Lipscomb 63.

Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.