Gopher Basketball
| Game Info | |
| Opponent: | North Dakota State Bison |
| When: | 7 pm, November 13th, 2006 |
| Where: | Williams Arena ““ Minneapolis, MN |
| Television: | FSN |
Another season of Golden Gopher Basketball has arrived! The Gophers host new cross-border rival North Dakota State Monday night to kick off the 2006-07 regular season. The Bison are coming off an impressive road victory at Idaho, while the Gophers are coming off”¦nevermind”¦.
The Bison played a whale of a game in knocking off Idaho 91-76. They shot 63% from the field and committed just 7 turnovers. Not bad. Forward Brent Winkelman led the way with 32 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 9 for 12 from the field and 12 for 15 from the line. Nice. Fellow forward Andre Smith had 20 points on 7 for 9 shooting. Point guard Ben Woodside had a great night with 18 points and 9 assists, and shooting guard Mike Nelson finished with 13 points.
Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:
1. Fresh Start. Losing to Winona State and North Dakota State back-to-back would not be a good thing. But the players can’t think about that. This is the first game of the season, and they need to forget about Wednesday night and come in with confidence.
2. Rebound. Shooting is hard to control, but you can always rebound. The Bison have some active players inside, so it will be key for the Gophers to box out and try to control the boards (or at least hold their own). Spencer Tollackson really needs to set the tone and lead the charge in this category.
3. Intensity. This hits on rebounding again, but it also hits on defense, getting out in transition, and just playing hard. This Gopher team has a lot of new parts, so they’re probably not going to be a well oiled machine on opening night. But they can be a team that plays hard on opening night. That’s what I want to see most of all.
I’m not expecting this to be an easy game. While Minnesota handled the Bison by 13 last year, that same NDSU team later went into Madison and knocked off the Badgers (happy days, happy days!). The Bison return their top 5 scorers from that team. They know each other and figure to be significantly ahead of the Gophers team-wise at this point in the season. And they’ll be playing with confidence after lighting up Idaho. I’ll be happy with a victory in any way, shape, or form. My prediction: Minnesota 76 NDSU 71.
Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.